Declining Performance, NASA Stops Swift Observatory Operations

The Swift Observatory has stopped operating (photo: dock. NASA)

JAKARTA The Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, the space telescope to monitor the sky, has stopped operating since last Friday, March 15. However, this news was only shared byNASAon Monday, March 18.

Swift entered safe mode and its operation was deliberately suspended for a while as the telescope experienced a decline in performance. This happened because one of the three gyroscopes did not work well.

In fact, gyroscopes play an important role in directing observatories to make observations. Although one component of importance is unreliable, other body parts can still operate and are in good health.

In fact, Swift is designed to operate even if one of the gyroscopes is damaged and cannot be used. However, the space telescope requires software updates so Swift has to enter safe mode.

Currently, the team managing Swift is working on a software update that will keep the telescope operating. If Swift can already work with the remaining two gyroscopes, the telescope will resume its observation.

The observatory in the form of this satellite was first launched in November 2004. The satellite was launched with three multi-wavelength telescopes to study gamma rays, namely the strongest explosion in the universe.

Swift was able to detect the explosion within a few seconds and the telescope will signal an explosion to all station locations on Earth. That way, scientists can observe the remains of the explosion that Swift captured.