Hackaday Links: August 2, 2026

A commercial rescue mission sent to save NASA's Swift gamma-ray observatory hit a rough patch after reaching orbit, but engineers at Katalyst Space have managed an impressive workaround. According to reporting from Ars Technica, the robotic retrieval vehicle unexpectedly began tumbling out of control last week, causing mission controllers to lose contact with the spacecraft entirely. After a day of silence, Swift automatically performed a hard reset that restored communications—but the recovery came at a cost, overheating the craft and frying the control circuitry for its reaction wheels, which normally stabilize orientation. Rather than abandon the mission, the team discovered they could repurpose the spacecraft's xenon-fueled electric thrusters—originally designed for orbit-raising—to counteract the spin by gimbling their thrust. It's slow going given the thrusters' limited power, but as of yesterday, it's working.

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