NASA’s Swift telescope is back, but time is running out

NASA has brought two of Swift’s telescopes back online after technical problems derailed a commercial mission intended to rescue the aging observatory by raising its orbit.

The short version

• With atmospheric drag pulling the spacecraft downward faster than expected, scientists may have only another month or two before Swift falls below a critical operating altitude.
• NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory is back to studying the universe with two of its three science instruments after plans to raise the spacecraft into a higher orbit were scaled back.
• The observatory's Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope and X-ray Telescope were switched back on Wednesday, Aug.

What happened

Both instruments had been shut down in February as part of an effort to reduce atmospheric drag and help Swift remain in orbit longer while NASA prepared for a possible orbital boost. Swift's third instrument, the Burst Alert Telescope, has not yet resumed science operations.

Why it matters

NASA stopped using it in April to lower the spacecraft's power needs, which allowed engineers to position Swift's solar panels in a way that further reduced drag.

Summary by Nerd News Network. Read the full article at ScienceDaily — Top Science via the links above and below.