CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — One of NASA’s main space telescopes hurtled toward Earth on Wednesday, ending its 22-year investigation into the universe’s biggest explosions. The disappearance of the Swift Observatory came less than three months after a long-range rescue mission failed. The US Space Force confirmed Swift’s re-entry near Indonesia after tracking its sinking orbit, a result of intense solar activity in recent years. NASA hired a private company to organize an effort to boost orbit, but Katalyst Space’s three-armed robotic craft ran into trouble after its launch in July and crashed in September. It was not immediately known what part of the 1.5-ton spacecraft burned up in the atmosphere. NASA anticipated that some of the denser pieces would survive. Swift entered orbit in 2004 in what was expected to be a two-year study of gamma-ray bursts and exploding stars. It observed thousands of them during a mission that lasted 11 times longer than planned and served as a first response for other telescopes that could explore deeper. WATCH: How NASA’s new space telescope could help solve the mysteries of dark energy and matter NASA is evaluating industry interest in mounting a rescue mission for another observatory whose orbit is being eroded by solar storms: the Hubble Space Telescope. Launched in 1990, Hubble is expected to collapse in the mid-2030s, according to recent analysis. The space agency is seeking input from private companies on whether and how they could boost Hubble’s orbit, improve its systems or guide it toward controlled reentry, or all three. Any such mission would have to happen in 2032. Unlike the urgent work with Swift, the space agency has more time to explore options to save Hubble, said Nicky Fox, NASA’s science mission chief. “Hubble still has important science ahead,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said in a statement, “and we should pursue every reasonable opportunity to keep it running for as long as possible.” Associated Press health and science coverage receives financial support from the AP Fund for Journalism and private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropic organizations, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org. A free press is the cornerstone of a healthy democracy. Support trustworthy journalism and civil dialogue. Donate now
