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A truck-sized NASA space telescope is about to crash to Earth

SpaceNovember 3, 20261 min read

NASA's Swift Observatory, a space telescope launched almost 22 years ago, is about to fall back to Earth. Most of it should burn up, but some pieces may survive.

What happened

NASA's Swift telescope is expected to re-enter Earth's atmosphere on Wednesday, at about 3:30 AM ET. The time could be off by up to 11 hours. Efforts to lift it into a higher orbit failed, and NASA gave up on rescuing it earlier this year.

Key facts

The telescope weighs about 3,200 pounds (about 1,450 kilograms).
It is 5.6 meters (18.4 feet) high and 5.4 meters (17.7 feet) wide, and much of the width comes from its solar arrays.
The chance that someone on Earth is harmed is about 1 in 2,100, which NASA calls unlikely.
Surviving pieces could land between 20.6 degrees south and 20.6 degrees north of the equator.

Why it was up there

Swift was built to study gamma-ray bursts, which are huge flashes of energy from far away in space. Its main mission was planned for only two years, but it kept working for much longer. It later became a general-purpose telescope that studied light at many different wavelengths. Solar storms eventually pulled it into a lower orbit, where it slowly fell.

Why it matters

Most space objects burn up when they fall, but big ones can leave pieces that reach the ground. This event shows how old satellites can come back down and why agencies watch them closely. NASA and the U.S. Space Force will keep tracking the fall and update their predictions.

What to watch

The exact re-entry time, which may shift as the date gets closer.
NASA updates on where any surviving pieces land.
NASA's blog, where updates on Swift's descent are posted.

Glossary

Swift Observatory: A NASA space telescope launched about 22 years ago to study space, especially gamma-ray bursts.
Space Force: The U.S. military branch that works on space operations, including tracking objects in orbit.

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