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Join today<\/a><\/p>\n \n Already a member? An aging NASA telescope<\/a> is expected to crash back down to Earth this week. <\/a><\/p>\n The U.S. Space Force predicts the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory will crash down soon \u2014 likely on or around Friday \u2014 following a failed rescue effort of the 1.5-ton telescope. <\/p>\n Most of the telescope will burn up in the atmosphere, but pieces of some of its denser parts, as well as some mirrored portions, may survive re-entry, according to NASA\u2019s Brad Cenko, the mission\u2019s chief scientist. <\/p>\n Parts of Africa, Australia, India, Southeast Asia and Central and South America are within the telescope\u2019s reentry zone. However, any pieces that survive the fall will most likely end up in the ocean, Cenko told the Associated Press. <\/p>\n The Swift telescope spent 22 years in orbit, blasting off on November 20, 2004. <\/p>\n While in orbit, the telescope would search for gamma-ray bursts \u2014 the most powerful explosions in the universe \u2014 and supernovas. <\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve known this day would come since before Swift was launched. At least in low-Earth orbit, what goes up must come down. And that end is catastrophic,\u201d Pennsylvania State University\u2019s John Nousek, an astronomer involved in the mission, told AP. <\/p>\n The Space Force is tracking the telescope\u2019s path as it falls back to Earth. <\/p>\n According to the report, the Swift was brought down faster than anticipated due to intense solar activity in recent years. While NASA tried to do a rescue of the telescope last year, it was unsuccessful. <\/p>\n
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The Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory is expected to crash down onto Earth within the next few days (AP)<\/p>\n