WE HAVE A PROBLEM

Giant Space Telescope Will Crash Into Earth Today

Scientists are unsure where fragments of the spacecraft might land.

#6

A decaying giant NASA telescope is expected to reenter Earth’s atmosphere on Wednesday after more than two decades in orbit. The 3,200-pound Swift Observatory was launched in 2004 and has been used to study powerful gamma-ray bursts and other space phenomena. However, solar activity has impacted Swift’s low-Earth orbit, and it is expected to re-enter on Wednesday and break apart. NASA experts say this could happen across an area including Central and South America, Africa, South and Southeast Asia and northern Australia, as well as stretches of the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans. The agency has been unable to pinpoint where the fragments are most likely to fall. Pennsylvania State University’s John Nousek, an astronomer involved in the mission, told the Associated Press: “We’ve known this day would come since before Swift was launched. At least in low-Earth orbit, what goes up must come down. And that end is catastrophic.” Scientists spent $30 million unsuccessfully trying to keep Swift in orbit.