NASA’s Swift telescope is back

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. 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 Swift telescope is back, but time is running out.

The observatory’s Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope and X-ray Telescope were switched back on Wednesday, Aug. 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.

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. The team now expects to restore that instrument to data collection within the next few weeks. Swift Returns to Its Cosmic Watch For 21 years, Swift has served as one of NASA’s most versatile observatories.