3 ms·
NASA launches robot to save Swift telescope falling to Earth
- kevin_thibedeau 3mo agoSwift is 10x past its mission lifetime. This is essentially an open demonstration of antisat tech.
- ButlerianJihad 3mo agoIt’s no secret that the world needs antisat technologies, and we’re openly and directly demonstrating it already, but this mission is really different. For example, it’s highly cooperative, because the whole SWIFT team is on the line to maneuver and position their craft for optimal capture. I think the most awesome aspect of this mission is the air-launch capability from an ordinary airplane in flight. And they did it without livestream from the Ronald Reagan Missile Test Range. This is truly S.D.I. tech in my lifetime. So many people mocked the President for promoting it…
- throwaway27448 3mo agoAntisat like LEO cleanup? Surely there are easier ways to destroy a satellite than launching a new one with arms.
- dylan604 3mo agoDoing it cleanly vs creating a debris field in orbit isn't a hard thing to understand why it would be desirable.
- superxpro12 3mo agoWhat was mercury and gemini other than a demonstration of ICBM tech?
- __patchbit__ 3mo agoHubble needs a lift and SpaceX have been ready to go on that side quest.
- pavel_lishin 3mo ago> When it was first launched it sat in an orbit at 373 miles (600 km) and has now lowered to around 220 miles (360 km), with most of that descent in the past two years. Hot damn, that's a lot of altitude lost.
- Ancalagon 3mo agoDumb question: do most NASA satellites in orbit not have some sort of center of mass hook just in case for operations like these?
- idontwantthis 3mo agoThey do not.