Thursday, November 5, 2026
Science

NASA's Swift telescope has burned up, months after a robot sent to save it failed

NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory took its last look at the sky on Oct. 20, 2026, while orbiting about 171 miles (275 kilometers) above Earth. NASA ended the telescope's mission three days later, because Swift had sunk so low that drag from the thin air there meant its telescopes couldn't hold s...

NASA's Swift telescope has burned up, months after a robot sent to save it failed
Image: Phys.org
NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory took its last look at the sky on Oct. 20, 2026, while orbiting about 171 miles (275 kilometers) above Earth. NASA ended the telescope's mission three days later, because Swift had sunk so low that drag from the thin air there meant its telescopes couldn't hold steady.

Originally published at Phys.org

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