Sometimes we can all use
a little help from a friend.
NASA's
Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory needs a boost to stay in orbit after almost 22 years of service.
This
video shows an artist's visualization of the
Swift Boost Mission: The
Katalyst's
LINK spacecraft was launched aboard a
Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL rocket on July 3 and it is now en route to rendezvous with Swift and boost it to a higher orbit over the course of the next
several months.
This type of maneuver has
never been attempted before.
If successful, it will be the technology demonstration of a new key capability to extended the lifetime of spacecraft in low Earth orbit, whose orbits
decay over time.
Swift has an array of
instruments that observe the most energetic
explosions in the Universe in gamma-rays, X-rays and ultraviolet, and the unique ability to repoint in their direction within
tens of seconds.
Astronomers around the world, and indeed all fans of cosmic explosions, are
anxiously hoping for a successful mission!