Swift Observatory in safe mode as NASA investigates issue

By Georgina Torbet Published April 28, 2022

An issue with NASA’s Swift Observatory has forced it to suspend science operations and enter safe mode while the team investigates. The space-based telescope is not one of NASA’s best-known missions, but it has played a key role in investigating an astronomical phenomenon called gamma-ray bursts.

The telescope, originally named the Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Explorer and later renamed the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, experienced a problem earlier this week suspected to be related to faulty hardware. “On the evening of Tuesday, January 18, NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory entered into safe mode, suspending pointed science observations,” NASA wrote in a brief update. “The mission team is investigating a possible failure of one of the spacecraft’s reaction wheels as the cause.”

An artist's rendering of the Swift spacecraft with a gamma-ray burst going off in the background. — An artist’s rendering of the Swift spacecraft with a gamma-ray burst going off in the background. Spectrum and NASA E/PO, Sonoma State University, Aurore Simonnet

The reaction wheels are components that allow the spacecraft to rotate to a very precise degree, which helps to keep the telescope pointed in one direction. This is important for Swift’s mission to study gamma-ray bursts as this requires a high degree of sensitivity. The bursts last a few minutes at most, and a few milliseconds at least, so Swift has to locate these events quickly before they disappear.

Recommended Videos

In order to figure out if one of the reaction wheels is indeed the culprit, the team has powered off the wheel in question for further investigation. The good news is that the other instruments seem to be healthy, and if necessary the team believes that they can continue to operate the observatory with five of its six wheels functioning.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

“The team is working to restore science operations using five reaction wheels. The remaining five wheels are all working as expected,” NASA writes, adding that, “This is the first time a reaction wheel has experienced a failure in Swift’s 17 years of operations.”

In addition to hunting down gamma-ray bursts, the Swift Observatory has also provided data that was used in collaboration with other telescopes, such as contributing to findings about gravitational waves and helping to investigate famous supermassive black hole M87.

Topics

Georgina Torbet

Space Writer

Georgina has been the space writer at Digital Trends space writer for six years, covering human space exploration, planetary…

Space

NASA scrubs Thursday’s launch of Europa Clipper mission to Jupiter moon

The Falcon Heavy rocket on the launchpad at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

SpaceX and NASA have called off Thursday’s planned launch of the Europa Clipper mission due to Hurricane Milton, which is heading east toward Florida, home of the Kennedy Space Center.

“Once the storm passes, recovery teams will assess the safety of the spaceport and the launch processing facilities for damage before personnel return to work,” NASA said in a post on social media on Sunday, adding in another message: “Teams have secured the spacecraft in SpaceX’s hangar at NASA Kennedy.”

Space

How to watch NASA’s oldest active astronaut launch to the ISS on Wednesday

NASA astronaut Don Pettit.

NASA Astronaut Don Pettit Soyuz MS-26 Launch

Don Pettit isn't your average senior citizen. Instead of enjoying life in the slow lane, he's getting ready for a rocket ride to the International Space Station (ISS) on Wednesday.

Space

Intuitive Machines to carry NASA experiments to the moon in 2027

An artist’s concept of Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lunar lander on the Moon’s South Pole.

Intuitive Machines, the company that earlier this year managed the first lunar landing by a commercial entity (partly successfully) will be returning to the moon with more NASA payloads. As part of NASA's CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) program, Intuitive Machines will design and build a lander to launch to the moon's south pole, and NASA will pay $117 million for it to carry six science payloads.

This is part of NASA's broader effort to embrace the burgeoning private space industry by becoming a customer of space companies rather than designing and building its own spacecraft. The aim is for Intuitive Machines to arrive at the moon's south pole in 2027, ahead of the Artemis missions that will see humans return to the lunar surface. The company will also be launching another lunar lander called Athena later this year, with a third launch planned next year as well.