Earlier this month, NASA sent a servicing mission to stop one of its satellites from falling out of the sky. The satellite in distress is awaiting a slight nudge to move it into a safer orbit, but its long-awaited rescue is currently in jeopardy.<\/p>\n
The servicing spacecraft, developed by contractor Katalyst Space Technologies, experienced issues with attitude control over the weekend, NASA shared in an update<\/a>. This has caused the spacecraft, dubbed LINK, to spin while in orbit and resulted in sporadic communications.<\/p>\n The team behind the mission is currently working to stop LINK\u2019s unfortunate orbital tumble and reestablish a stable attitude.<\/p>\n Fix your attitude <\/p>\n The three-armed LINK spacecraft took off on July 3<\/a> onboard a converted Lockheed L-1011 aircraft from Kwajalein Atoll in the South Pacific. LINK was then launched into space from an altitude of 7.6 miles (12.2 kilometers) using a Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL rocket.<\/p>\n Things were looking good at first as Katalyst deployed LINK\u2019s solar arrays and established communications with its spacecraft. There were, however, some earlier concerns regarding one of the spacecraft\u2019s three reaction wheels.<\/p>\n Reaction wheels control a spacecraft\u2019s orientation and stabilize its rotation using electric motors to discharge momentum. \u201cThe Katalyst team also quickly addressed early communications and attitude control issues seen during flight operations, including an issue with one of the spacecraft\u2019s three reaction wheels,\u201d NASA wrote in an update<\/a> on July 15. \u201cAfter identifying the cause, they implemented flight software patches and operational updates that restored reliable communications and stable attitude control.\u201d<\/p>\n As the spacecraft\u2019s commissioning process continued, however, it looks as though the rotation wheel failure persisted. \u201cPreliminary investigation shows that two of LINK\u2019s three reaction wheels currently are not operable, and there is some loss of functionality in its cold gas thruster system,\u201d NASA\u2019s latest update read.<\/p>\n To the rescue <\/p>\n NASA is attempting to use LINK to try and boost the sinking Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory<\/a>. Swift launched toward low-Earth orbit on November 20, 2004, to study the most powerful explosions in the cosmos: gamma-ray bursts. Over the course of its mission, Swift gradually lost altitude due to atmospheric drag and has a 50% chance of an uncontrolled reentry by mid-2026.<\/p>\n