Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory
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NASA
NASA Updates Next Steps for Commercial Swift Boost Mission
Due to an ongoing commercial spacecraft attitude control issue, NASA and Katalyst Space announced Wednesday the LINK spacecraft will not capture or boost an agency satellite to a higher altitude to extend its science mission as planned. However, LINK still will attempt to conduct rendezvous and proximity operations with NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory to demonstrate key capabilities for the…
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NASA
Partners, NASA Ready for June Launch of Swift Boost Mission
Editor’s note, July 1, 2026: Wednesday’s launch was postponed due to unfavorable weather conditions. The next launch attempt is no earlier than Thursday, July 2, at 9:09 p.m. UTC+12 (5:09 a.m. EDT). Editor’s note, June 30, 2026: Tuesday’s launch was postponed due to unfavorable weather conditions. The next launch attempt is no earlier than Wednesday, July 1, at 9:43 p.m. UTC+12 (5:43 a.m. EDT).…
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NASA
NASA Explores Industry Possibilities to Raise Swift Mission’s Orbit
To drive the development of key space-based capabilities for the United States, NASA is exploring an opportunity to demonstrate technology to raise a spacecraft’s orbit to a higher altitude. Two American companies – Cambrian Works of Reston, Virginia, and Katalyst Space Technologies of Flagstaff, Arizona – will develop concept design studies for a possible orbit boost for the agency’s Neil Gehrels…
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NASA
NASA’s Swift Reaches 20th Anniversary in Improved Pointing Mode
After two decades in space, NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory is performing better than ever thanks to a new operational strategy implemented earlier this year. The spacecraft has made great scientific strides in the years since scientists dreamed up a new way to explore gamma-ray bursts, the most powerful explosions in the universe. “The idea for Swift was born during…
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NASA
NASA’s Swift Studies Gas-Churning Monster Black Holes
Scientists using observations from NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory have discovered, for the first time, the signal from a pair of monster black holes disrupting a cloud of gas in the center of a galaxy. “It’s a very weird event, called AT 2021hdr, that keeps recurring every few months,” said Lorena Hernández-García, an astrophysicist at the Millennium Institute of Astrophysics,…
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NASA
NASA Telescopes Work Out Black Hole’s Snack Schedule
By using new data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory as well as ESA’s XMM-Newton, a team of researchers have made important headway in understanding how — and when — a supermassive black hole obtains and then consumes material, as described in our latest press release. This artist’s impression shows a star that has partially been disrupted by such a black hole in the system…
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NASA
NASA’s Swift Temporarily Suspends Science Operations
On March 15, NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory entered into safe mode, temporarily suspending science operations due to degrading performance from one of its three gyroscopes (gyros), which are used to point the observatory for making observations. The rest of the spacecraft remains in good health. Swift is designed to successfully operate without one of its gyros if necessary; however,…
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NASA
How NASA Chases and Investigates Bright Cosmic Blips
Stephen Lesage’s phone started vibrating just after halftime on Oct. 9, 2022, while he was watching a soccer game in Atlanta with a friend. When Lesage saw the incoming messages, the match no longer seemed important. There had been a rare cosmic event, and he needed to get to his computer immediately. NASA’s Fermi Gamma-Ray Satellite and Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory had spotted…
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