Two Missions, One Future: Extending Swift's Reach While Preparing Roman for Discovery

A first-of-its-kind robotic servicing mission aimed at preserving NASA's Swift Observatory is advancing toward launch as the highly anticipated Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope makes its way to Kennedy Space Center to prepare for its own mission.

Artists concept shows NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory orbiting above Earth. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Chris Smith (KBRwyle)

An ambitious mission is taking shape at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, where Northrop Grumman's Pegasus XL rocket is being prepared for launch with Katalyst's LINK robotic servicing spacecraft aboard. The mission aims to perform a historic orbital boost of NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, extending the life of one of the agency's most valuable astrophysics assets.

There is a great deal riding on this effort. Katalyst is entering the final phase of an intensive eight-month campaign to prepare the LINK spacecraft for flight. Once in orbit, LINK's robotic arm will rendezvous with Swift and carefully reposition the observatory into a higher orbit, helping preserve its scientific capabilities for years to come.

For more than two decades, Swift has served as NASA's "first responder" for high-energy astrophysics. The observatory rapidly detects and pinpoints powerful cosmic events such as gamma-ray bursts, then distributes alerts to observatories around the world. Those alerts enable powerful instruments including NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, the James Webb Space Telescope, and the Hubble Space Telescope - and soon the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope - to quickly target these events and gather additional imagery and scientific data.

The Nancy Grace Roman Telescope has passed significant milestones and will be arriving at Kennedy Space Center aboard NASA's Pegasus barge to prepare for launch. With a field of view 100-times larger than Hubble's, its mission will be to study dark energy and directly image planets around nearby stars. Depending on alerts from a system like Swift could prove critical in its studies.

By extending Swift's operational life, this mission would help preserve a vital component of the world's astronomical early-warning network and ensure that scientists can continue studying some of the most energetic and mysterious phenomena in the universe.

Stay tuned and we will bring you first-hand information as preparations continue for this groundbreaking mission to give Swift a new lease on life - as well as continued stories on the Roman mission as it progresses.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/f3d459_b037b6e88e2c47baacfa5da5475be650/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

A 2011 video to explain what Swift actually does.

Video and cover photo provided by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

Scientists

Regina Caputo (University of Maryland College Park)

Brad Cenko (NASA/GSFC)

Joshua E. Schlieder (NASA/GSFC)

Regina Caputo (NASA/GSFC)

Animator

Chris Smith (USRA)

Producer

Chris Smith (USRA)

Narrator

Regina Caputo (NASA/GSFC)