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The launch of NASA's Artemis 2 crewed Moon mission generated ripples in Earth's upper atmosphere that spread across roughly 3,100 miles. GPS receivers on the ground picked up three distinct wave-like disturbances tied to the rocket's ascent through the ionosphere.
NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory is expected to re-enter Earth's atmosphere around 3:30AM Eastern on November 4, with an 11-hour uncertainty window, according to US Armed Forces predictions. The 3,200-pound spacecraft's demise follows a failed rescue attempt in July using Katalyst Space's LINK robotic craft, which suffered attitude control problems before NASA ended the mission and placed Swift into safe mode in late October.
NASA says the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, launched in 2004 to study gamma-ray bursts, is expected to fall to Earth next week after 22 years in orbit. A $30 million rescue attempt in July 2026 using a robotic craft called LINK to boost Swift's orbit failed due to control-system problems, and increased solar activity since 2024 had already accelerated the satellite's descent by thickening the upper atmosphere. As of October 26, NASA reported Swift was orbiting less than 170 miles above Earth's surface.
NASA says its 3,200-pound Swift Observatory, launched nearly 22 years ago, is expected to re-enter Earth's atmosphere around 3:30AM ET Wednesday, with an 11-hour margin of error. Most of the spacecraft should burn up, though some components may survive and land somewhere between 20.6 degrees north and south latitude. NASA puts the odds of anyone being harmed at roughly 1 in 2,100.
NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, launched in November 2004 to study gamma-ray bursts, is expected to fall back to Earth around 3:30 a.m. ET on Nov. 4, with an 11-hour reentry window. Most of the spacecraft will burn up, and any surviving debris is expected to land within a band roughly 20.6 degrees north or south of the equator.
NASA has completed a 378-day ground-based simulation designed to mimic conditions of a Mars mission, testing how a four-person volunteer crew coped with isolation, limited resources, and delayed communication. The experiment, which took place without leaving Earth, aimed to study the psychological and logistical challenges future astronauts could face on a real mission to Mars.
NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft is approaching a distance from Earth equal to one light-day, meaning radio signals will take a full 24 hours to travel one way between the probe and mission controllers. The milestone underscores how far the 1977-launched spacecraft has traveled into interstellar space.
NASA's Swift Gamma-Ray Burst telescope, launched in 2004, is reentering Earth's atmosphere within days after a July mission using a Katalyst Space Technologies spacecraft to boost it into a higher orbit failed when that spacecraft tumbled out of control. NASA says Swift's orbit dropped to about 171 miles by mid-October and is now sinking rapidly due to atmospheric drag, with reentry location still unknown.
NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, after more than 20 years studying gamma-ray bursts, is predicted to make an uncontrolled reentry as early as Friday following a failed attempt by NASA and Katalyst Space Technologies to adjust its orbit in September. US Space Force tracking suggests most of the spacecraft will burn up, though some tungsten components and mirrors could survive and reach the ground, most likely in the ocean but potentially over parts of Africa, Australia, India, Southeast Asia, or the Americas.
NASA is exploring commercial space industry options to keep the Hubble Space Telescope operational longer, according to statements emphasizing the observatory's continued scientific value. The agency says it wants to examine innovative, cost-effective methods for extending the life of the orbiting asset.
NASA has posted a countdown clock marking the moment Voyager 1, launched nearly 50 years ago, will become the first human-made object to travel one light-day from Earth—about 16 billion miles—on Nov. 18, 2026. The spacecraft, originally built for a five-year mission to Jupiter and Saturn, travels at roughly 37,844 mph and has survived a 2024 memory glitch and a recent emergency power shutdown.
NASA has issued a Request for Information asking commercial companies to describe their capabilities for capturing the Hubble Space Telescope, raising it to an altitude of at least 373 miles, servicing it, or guiding it to a controlled reentry. The agency says any mission must not damage Hubble and should occur by 2032, with the telescope otherwise expected to fall out of orbit and burn up around 2033-2034.