NASA Launches Mission to Save Falling Telescope

On Tuesday, NASA launched a robot to save the Swift telescope. Swift is an old telescope in low Earth orbit. It went into space in the year 2004. The telescope was only for a two-year mission. However, scientists still use it because it is very fast. It studies very big and fast explosions in space. Scientists call these violent space explosions gamma-ray bursts. Swift is at an altitude of 600 kilometers. The old telescope does not have its own motor. The sun is very active in its current cycle. This solar action makes the Earth's atmosphere expand. So, the expanding air drags the telescope downward. The telescope will burn in the atmosphere without help. A U.S. startup company, Katalyst, built the rescue robot. The creators call this new rescue robot LINK. The mission began on Tuesday at 1023 GMT. A jet plane carried a small Pegasus rocket. After that, the jet released the rocket in the air. The small rocket then flew quickly into space. The robot LINK will find the telescope in space. The robot will move very carefully near Swift. The robot will use its three movable arms. It will hold the telescope with these arms. After that, LINK will pull Swift 300 kilometers higher. This towing work will take at least one month. The whole mission will continue into the autumn. This rescue mission costs 30 million dollars. A new telescope is much more expensive to build. The original Swift telescope cost 250 million dollars. Regina Caputo predicts a 50-50 chance of success. But NASA wants to try this rescue mission. A successful mission will help other old satellites. Robots can repair and upgrade them in orbit.