NASA satellite is expected to crash this Wednesday after failed rescue; route passes through South America

The Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory was launched in 2004 and has spent more than two decades studying the most powerful explosions in the cosmos. Now, unable to operate and after the failure of a rescue mission, he will make an uncontrolled reentry.

The most recent forecast was released on Tuesday night (3) by the Aerospace Corporation, a non-profit research organization. She points to re-entry at 7:19 am this Wednesday, Brasília time, with a margin of error of two hours plus or minus. As of publication, NASA had not confirmed Swift's reentry.

The observatory's trajectory crosses large areas of Africa, Asia, Australia and Central and South America. Europe and the United States are outside the risk zone.

According to NASA's calculations, the probability of someone being injured by one of the pieces is approximately 1 in 2,100.

Valued at US$500 million, Swift used a set of three telescopes to observe bursts of gamma rays, a type of invisible light that is much more energetic than X-rays, as well as other cosmic phenomena.

The crash ends a mission planned to last two years that spanned more than twenty. During this period, Swift detected and tracked more than 2,000 of these explosions, the most energetic events observed in the universe since the Big Bang.

The Swift does not have its own propulsion system and, therefore, cannot correct its own altitude. The observatory had been losing height for months, heading towards a predictable end.

To try to save it, NASA teamed up with Katalyst, an Arizona startup, and launched a spacecraft built for the task, called LINK, in July. The plan was to catch the Swift in space, dock with it, and tow it back to a higher, more stable orbit.