NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory reentered Earth’s atmosphere over North Sumatra, Indonesia, at 7:39 a.m. Eastern time on Nov. 4, ending nearly 22 years in orbit and its mission to study gamma-ray bursts and other cosmic events.
The U.S. Space Force tracked the reentry. NASA said it happened at about 3.4 degrees north latitude and 98.6 degrees east longitude. Swift launched on Nov. 20, 2004.
It was built to use three telescopes to observe the universe at different wavelengths of light. It was originally designed for a two-year mission. Instead, it continued working for more than two decades.
It quickly turned toward short-lived cosmic outbursts and sent alerts to observatories so they could observe them afterward. During its mission, Swift detected more than 2,000 gamma-ray bursts and studied many kinds of objects, including supernovas, active galaxies and X-ray flares. NASA expected most of the spacecraft to burn up as it reentered Earth’s atmosphere.
However, some parts might have survived. Its descent came after an unsuccessful effort to move the observatory into a higher orbit using a robotic servicing spacecraft.