NASA's Swift Observatory to Crash to Earth After 22 Years in Orbit

NASA's Swift Observatory, a truck-sized space telescope launched nearly 22 years ago, is set to re-enter Earth's atmosphere on Wednesday at approximately 3:30 a.m. ET, with an uncertainty window of about 11 hours. The agency confirmed that attempts to boost the aging telescope into a higher orbit were unsuccessful, sealing its fate for an uncontrolled descent. Swift, which has been instrumental in studying gamma-ray bursts and other cosmic phenomena, is expected to largely burn up upon re-entry, though some debris may survive. NASA has stated that the risk to people and property is low, but the event highlights the growing challenge of managing defunct satellites. The telescope's long mission transformed our understanding of the universe's most violent explosions. Its fiery end marks the close of a remarkable era in space astronomy, while underscoring the need for better end-of-life plans for orbital hardware.