NASA's Swift Space Telescope Set to Fall to Earth After 22 Years
NASA expects most of the observatory to burn up, but some parts could survive. The re-entry forecast remains uncertain by about 11 hours.
NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory is expected to re-enter Earth's atmosphere Wednesday, Nov. 4, ending nearly 22 years in space after a mission originally designed to last two years.
NASA said Monday that the U.S. Space Force predicted re-entry at about 3:30 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on Wednesday, with an uncertainty of 11 hours. That is a forecast, not a precise landing time, and the agencies are continuing to track the spacecraft.
Most of the roughly 3,200-pound observatory is expected to burn up in the atmosphere. NASA said some components could survive, with possible re-entry locations limited to a band between 20.6 degrees north and 20.6 degrees south of the equator.
NASA put the risk of harm to anyone on Earth at approximately 1 in 2,100. That is the overall risk that someone could be harmed, not the odds for any one individual. The possible re-entry band is largely ocean, Spaceflight Now reported.
Launched in 2004, Swift used three telescopes to study gamma-ray bursts, the powerful cosmic explosions that can fade quickly. Its ability to turn rapidly toward an outburst and alert other observatories helped scientists coordinate follow-up observations.
The observatory also studied supernovae, active galaxies, stellar flares, comets and asteroids during more than two decades of operations. NASA and the Space Force said they will update their re-entry predictions as the spacecraft descends.