Extending Swift\u2019s scientific mission was not the only consideration when NASA officials selected Katalyst to build and launch a satellite to boost Swift\u2019s orbit. The space agency is using the rescue mission as a technology demonstration and as a way to test the mettle of the commercial satellite servicing industry.<\/p>\n
With Swift\u2019s orbit rapidly decaying, NASA gave Katalyst nine months to build and launch the Link satellite, an unusually fast timeline for such a complex mission. Katalyst answered the call and delivered the Link satellite for integration with the Pegasus rocket in early June. Poor weather and a technical glitch with the rocket delayed the launch until July 3.<\/p>\n
No matter the outcome of the Swift rescue attempt, NASA officials said last month they were already pleased with the results. \u201cFrom a programmatics standpoint, I consider this a success already, just from the fact that we\u2019re even going to try this,\u201d said Shawn Domagal-Goldman, director of NASA\u2019s astrophysics division.<\/p>\n
Katalyst\u2019s Link spacecraft is still generating sufficient electrical power in communication with ground teams, NASA said. That gives engineers time to develop a plan to address the reaction wheel problems.<\/p>\n
Kieran Wilson, Link\u2019s principal investigator at Katalyst, talked about a scenario like this before the launch.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur previous programs had issues with power systems and communications,\u201d Wilson said. \u201cThose are a lot of the basic things that most of the engineering team gets very concerned about because we\u2019re confident that as long as we have spacecraft that can function at a fundamental level, that gives us the freedom and flexibility to work through any issues we find during rendezvous and more challenging dynamical operations.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter reestablishing stable attitude and further investigating spacecraft status, Katalyst plans to update Link\u2019s guidance, navigation, and control to accommodate the spacecraft\u2019s new configuration,\u201d NASA said. \u201cWorking closely with NASA teams, they will then evaluate revised plans to approach and capture Swift, depending on safety of the approach and Link\u2019s health.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Extending Swift\u2019s scientific mission was not the only consideration when NASA officials selected Katalyst to build and launch…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":830094,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[64,63,128,285],"class_list":["post-830093","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-science","tag-space"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/830093","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=830093"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/830093\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/830094"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=830093"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=830093"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=830093"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}