Here's how engineers plan to save the satellite sent to save NASA's Swift mission
"We believe that a capture of Swift, an attempted capture of Swift, is very much in the cards.".
"We believe that a capture of Swift, an attempted capture of Swift, is very much in the cards."
The short version
- The spacecraft, named Link, was rotating on multiple axes, rendering it unable to maintain a reliable communications link with the ground and complicating efforts to arrest the spin.
- Two of the satellite’s three reaction wheels, used for pointing, also stopped working.
- Through sporadic radio contact, engineers discovered a problem with some of the spacecraft’s cold gas thrusters used for finer attitude control.
What happened
In a few months, Swift will be too low for Katalyst to complete the rescue. This is the first time NASA has contracted with a commercial company to service one of its satellites.
Why it matters
The space agency gave Katalyst less than a year to put the mission together .
Summary by Nerd News Network. Read the full article at Ars Technica via the links above and below.