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A NASA telescope is slowly plummeting to earth and there's no way to save it

NPR | By Danielle Kurtzleben ,

Henry Larson, Tinbete Ermyas

Published August 23, 2026 at 3:23 PM MDT

NASA's Swift Observatory has orbited the Earth since 2004. It's now falling towards earth, and after a failed mission to save it, NASA is leaving the doomed telescope to its fate.

Danielle Kurtzleben

Danielle Kurtzleben is a White House correspondent on NPR's Washington Desk. She appears regularly on the NPR Politics Podcast and other NPR shows.

See stories by Danielle Kurtzleben

Henry Larson

Tinbete Ermyas