Cape Canaveral: The robotic spacecraft sent to rescue an ageing NASA telescope has plunged back to Earth after the mission was abandoned, less than three months after its launch.
Katalyst Space Technologies announced that its three-armed spacecraft, named Link, re-entered the atmosphere overnight on Friday, bringing the $30 million NASA-sponsored effort to save the Swift Observatory to an end.
Swift is expected to follow in early November as its orbit continues to decline.
“While we'll be sad to see Swift's mission come to a close, we knew this boost effort would be worthwhile either way,” NASA's Shawn Domagal-Goldman said in a statement.
He said the mission provided valuable experience for future satellite-rescue operations and required teams to work against the clock on an unprecedented schedule.
Link was built in less than a year to capture the 22-year-old Swift and move it into a higher, longer-lasting orbit. The manoeuvre was intended to allow the telescope to continue observing some of the universe's most powerful explosions.
However, intense solar flare-ups had caused Swift's orbit to deteriorate faster than engineers had expected.
NASA suspended observations earlier this year and repositioned Swift to reduce atmospheric drag and extend the time available for a rescue. Without those measures, managers said the telescope would have re-entered the atmosphere before help could arrive.
Link launched on July 3 but soon experienced electronic problems that disabled two of its three reaction wheels, which were needed to control the spacecraft's orientation.
A faulty valve then sent Link into a rapid spin, disrupting communications. Engineers eventually regained control, but the spacecraft no longer had enough fuel to complete the rescue, and the mission was called off in August.
Katalyst used the remaining weeks to test Link's robotic arms, each measuring about 3 feet in length and fitted with a handlike gripper.
Flight controllers also managed to bring Link within 12 kilometres to 15 kilometres of Swift, close enough to capture images of the telescope.
“We knew from the beginning that this was an ambitious mission on an aggressive timeline,” Katalyst CEO Ghonhee Lee said in a statement.
Lee said the company would apply the lessons from the mission to its future satellite-recovery efforts.
“This is a foundation we can build on," he added.
Swift has resumed scanning the universe during the roughly one month it has left in orbit.
Launched in 2004, the $364 million observatory was designed to quickly pivot towards gamma ray bursts, exploding stars and other rapidly unfolding cosmic events.
Its ability to respond quickly allows Swift to act as a lookout or first responder for other telescopes that can then conduct follow-up observations. NASA is now working to determine how it will fill that role after Swift's mission ends.