NASA’s Swift Restarts Science Observations

NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory has switched back on two of its three science instruments, NASA Science reports. The Ultraviolet/Optical and X-ray telescopes resumed operations on Wednesday, after being turned off in February to reduce drag and keep the satellite in orbit longer. The third instrument, the Burst Alert Telescope, was halted in April to save power, and the team expects to bring it back online in the coming weeks. The observatory had been waiting for a commercial boost from Katalyst Space's LINK spacecraft, but that mission was scaled back to focus on rendezvous demonstrations. With science observations resuming, NASA predicts Swift will stay above the critical altitude for another one to two months.

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