NASA’s Swift satellite is expected to reenter Earth’s atmosphere on or about Friday, Nov. 6, after a mission that detected more than 2,000 gamma-ray bursts and nearly as many supernovae. Swift’s observations contributed to more than 7,000 research papers, and its archive is expected to support scientific discoveries for decades. Although most of the spacecraft should burn up during reentry, a few durable components could survive and fall within a broad zone covering parts of several continents and the surrounding oceans.
“Swift will leave us with an incredible archive of multiwavelength observations that will fuel new discoveries for decades to come,” Domagal-Goldman said.
What can we expect from reentry?
The U.S. Space Force estimates that Swift is likely to crash on or about Friday, Nov. 6, or that at least some of the satellite’s debris will reach Earth. Most space observatories are expected to disintegrate during atmospheric reentry. However, some tungsten components and several mirrors may survive the process, Brad Cenko, NASA’s principal investigator for the mission, told the Associated Press.
“What is most likely to survive are the six heavy reaction wheels, the rotating flywheel that was used for aiming, and the more robust telescope parts such as lenses and mirrors,” said Dean Sladen, quality manager and aerospace engineer at Accu Components, told Space.com. “Only a handful of small charred fragments are expected to fall, and nothing recognizable as a telescope.”
Large areas of Africa, Australia, India, Southeast Asia, and Central and South America lie within the atmospheric reentry zone monitored by the Space Force. A more precise prediction has not been made public, if one exists, but the remaining parts of Swift will most likely fall into the ocean.
“NASA’s own orbital debris requirements state that the risk of human injury from surviving debris should not exceed 1 in 10,000, so this study is likely completed but not published,” Sladen said of the risk assessment. “Personally, I think this information should be made public, as NASA has done with previous satellites. The risk is almost certainly very small, but it would give people a clear, factual picture rather than speculation.”
This story was originally published in the Spanish version of WIRED and translated from Spanish.
Source: www.wired.com