A spacecraft launched to help a NASA observatory stay in a safer orbit has reportedly run into problems of its own. The unmanned Link spacecraft had been sent to push NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory into a higher orbit, but the rescue effort has now become more complicated.
Swift, which NASA launched in 2004, is known for observing gamma-ray bursts and other powerful cosmic events. According to the report, the observatory was losing altitude, prompting plans for an orbital assist mission designed to keep it operating from a better position in space.
Now, the spacecraft assigned to carry out that task appears to need help itself. While the available details are limited, the setback raises new questions about the status of the mission and whether the observatory can still receive the boost it was meant to get.
The development underlines how difficult it can be to service aging spacecraft in orbit. What began as a rescue plan for a NASA telescope has turned into a second spaceflight problem, with both the observatory and its would-be helper facing uncertainty.
