NASA's Swift Telescope's Journey Ends After Failed $30 Million Rescue

NASA's Swift Telescope's Journey Ends After Failed $30 Million Rescue NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory re-entered Earth's atmosphere on Wednesday, Nov. 4, almost 22 years after launch, after a $30M commercial rescue attempt was unable to recover it.

NASA says the U.S. Space Force predicted re-entry at about 3:30 a.m. EST, give or take 11 hours. NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory satellite (NASA) The spacecraft weighed roughly 3,200 pounds. NASA expected most of it to burn up, but some components may survive.

Because Swift flies a low-inclination orbit, any fragments that reach the ground should land between 20.6 degrees south and 20.6 degrees north latitude, a band that is mostly ocean. NASA spokesperson Elizabeth Shaw put the risk to anyone on Earth at "approximately 1 in 2,100," which NASA calls unlikely.

Swift's orbit decayed faster than planned. NASA attributes it to increased atmospheric drag from solar activity.