LINK Battles Spin as NASA Tries to Save Swift Observatory
NASA's LINK spacecraft, built to dock with and tug the Swift Observatory into a higher orbit, is having attitude-control problems and is spinning, disrupting communications. Two of its three reaction wheels are nonfunctional and its cold-gas thrusters have degraded, but ground teams plan to use electric propulsion to stop the spin and reestablish guidance so a rendezvous with Swift can be reassessed; the mission remains active as Swift continues to decay due to increased atmospheric drag from solar activity.