In a major space development NASA has officially called off operations for its famous Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory marking the end of an incredible 21 year journey. The space agency pulled the plug after the aging telescope began sinking fast toward Earth due to heavy atmospheric drag and intense solar activity.
Launched back in 2004 the Swift observatory was originally planned to last only two years. However it far exceeded expectations by spending over two decades tracking deep space mysteries including massive star explosions called gamma ray bursts faraway black holes and comets. Scientists tried hard to save the mission earlier this year by planning a special commercial orbit boost mission but technical hurdles stopped it from happening. As the telescope dropped below 171 miles and lost its ability to fight the strong pull of the atmosphere mission control operators at Penn State sent a final command to shut it down safely.
The satellite is now expected to re enter Earth atmosphere and burn up safely in the coming weeks. Even though Swift journey is over space researchers say its massive collection of cosmic data will continue to help scientists unlock the secrets of the universe for many years to come.
