NASA Cancels Rescue Mission; Aging Telescope Will Burn Up in Atmosphere

NASA and Katalyst Space cancelled a rescue mission for the Swift space telescope after a steering problem could not be fixed, making it impossible for a rescue spacecraft called Link to safely reach and boost Swift to a higher orbit. Swift, launched in 2004 to study powerful cosmic flashes, will fall back to Earth and burn up later this year. Link launched July 3rd under a $30 million contract; problems began by month's end.