NASA’s $500m swift space telescope burns up after 22 years — Pajhwok

KABUL (Pajhwok): NASA’s Swift space telescope, which spent nearly 22 years studying some of the most powerful energy explosions in the universe, fell out of orbit as expected on Wednesday and burned up in the Earth’s atmosphere over Indonesia, the US space agency has reported. The fiery end of the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, which weighed about 1,452 kilograms, came less than three months after a rescue spacecraft failed to move the satellite into a higher orbit and extend its operational life, Reuters reported. The US Space Force confirmed that Swift re-entered the atmosphere at 7:39am EST (1239 GMT), travelling at about 22 times the speed of sound over Indonesia’s North Sumatra province, approximately 322 kilometresnorth of the equator, according to NASA. NASA said it expected frictional heat during re-entry to destroy most of the satellite high above the Earth’s surface, although some fragments could survive. The agency reported no damage or injuries on the ground from falling debris. It was not immediately clear how close the telescope’s re-entry point was to Medan, the capital and largest city of North Sumatra, which has a population of about 2.5 million. The province as a whole has around 16 million residents. The US Space Force had earlier assessed the risk to populated areas as very low, estimating the probability of anyone on…