The spacecraft sent to lift the sinking Neil Gehrels Swift Obsevatory has run into trouble and is spinning away.
The LINK servicing spacecraft from Katalyst’s LINK servicing spacecraft has experienced issues with attitude control, causing the spacecraft to spin and resulting in sporadic communications.
LINK is designed to approach, capture, and boost NASA’s Swift spacecraft to a higher orbital altitude.
According to a statement from Nasa, preliminary investigation shows that two of LINK’s three reaction wheels currently are not operable, and there is some loss of functionality in its cold gas thruster system.
LINK’s other major subsystems are functioning as expected, and there’s still hope it will be able to perform its job.
The spacecraft remains power positive and in communication with the Katalyst team, who are working to stop its spin over the next few days, using the spacecraft’s electric propulsion thrusters.
After reestablishing stable attitude and further investigating spacecraft status, Katalyst plans to update LINK’s guidance, navigation, and control to accommodate the spacecraft’s new configuration.
Working closely with NASA teams, they will then evaluate revised plans to approach and capture Swift, depending on safety of the approach and LINK’s health.
Swift is NASA’s astrophysics multitool, capable of quickly observing a wide range of cosmic objects in visible, ultraviolet, X-ray, and gamma-ray light.
All spacecraft in low Earth orbit experience slight drag from our planet’s atmosphere. If they don’t have propulsion systems to maintain their orbits, the drag gradually reduces their altitudes.
A recent bout of solar storms magnified this effect on Swift, which began to sink faster than anticipated.
Katalyst Space was contracted to lift the observatory.