NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory has temporarily stopped its science observations while the mission team investigates an issue.
has temporarily stopped its science observations while the mission team investigates an issue.
On Tuesday night , the observatory, a gamma-ray hunting space telescope originally called the Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Explorer, went into safe mode and paused all science work. This maneuver may have been in response to a reaction wheel failure, which the mission team continues to explore. Swift uses a total of six reaction wheels to autonomously point itself in the direction of possible gamma-ray bursts . When the observatory detected the issue this week, it turned off the problematic wheel was turned off,Related:While the team continues to work on the suspected failure of the sixth wheel, mission personnel also hope to get Swift's science instruments back up and running with just five wheels, the statement noted.
The Swift Observatory’s science instruments went into safe mode after a possible reaction wheel failure. Pointed science observations are temporarily suspended while the team investigates the issue. The instruments and other 5 wheels remain in good health. https://t.co/6rYTyu6yTg pic.twitter.com/tCkLU7jdSASwift launched to space in 2004, having been named for the mission's principal investigator Neil Gehrels, who died in 2003.
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