NASA Is Hatching a 'Fast-Paced Plan' to Boost This Space Telescope. But First, They'll Have to Find It

NASA is hatching a 'fast-paced plan' to boost this space telescope. But first, they'll have to find it

NASA is working hard to predict where in Earth orbit its Swift space telescope will be this fall, so that a private spacecraft can meet up with the observatory and boost its altitude.

Swift thinking buys NASA observatory a little more time before re-entry

NASA's decision to halt most science operations on its Swift observatory has paid off. Estimates now put the spacecraft's descent past the point of no return to the end of summer rather than the start. The space agency presented the latest set of re-entry forecasts for the spacecraft, which now point to a descent below the critical altitude of 300 km (185 miles) in September rather than July. The figure is important, since the higher the spacecr…