A rescue operation worth 30 million dollars will begin with the launch of a robotic spacecraft that will attempt to lift the Swift telescope to a higher orbit and enable it to continue scientific research, reports AP.
NASA has engaged the startup company Katalyst Space Technologies for the mission, whose autonomous spacecraft „Lift,“ equipped with three robotic arms, will be launched by a „Pegasus“ rocket from an airplane above the Marshall Islands in the Pacific.
According to the mission plan, the spacecraft will need about a month to catch up to and capture the telescope, and then several more months to raise its orbit from the current 360 to about 600 kilometers.
If the operation is successful, Swift could be operational again by September.
The „Lift“ spacecraft, the size of a small refrigerator, has solar wings with a span of 12 meters and three robotic arms with grippers that will allow it to grasp the telescope, even though it was never designed for servicing.
The mission could serve as a model for the rescue of other space observatories, including the „Hubble“ telescope, which is also gradually losing altitude due to increased solar activity.
The Swift telescope, launched in 2004 to observe gamma rays and other strong cosmic radiation, has been rapidly losing altitude in recent years due to increased solar activity.
Comments