NASA’s gamma-ray observatory is back in action after technical glitch

NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory is back to science operations as of Thursday (Feb. 17), following a glitch more than a month ago. The nearly 18-year-old telescope suffered a failure with one of its reaction wheels on Jan. 18, forcing a temporary pivot to safe mode. Swift uses a total of six reaction wheels to … Read more

NASA’s gamma-ray observatory is in safe mode after a possible wheel failure

A visualization of the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory.  (Image credit: NASA) NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory has temporarily stopped its science observations while the mission team investigates an issue. On Tuesday night (Jan. 18), the observatory, a gamma-ray hunting space telescope originally called the Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Explorer, went into safe mode and paused all … Read more