Spacecraft returns to Earth after rescue mission for ageing Nasa telescope fails

An artist’s rendering of Nasa's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory. Photograph: Chris Smith/KBRwyle/NASA Goddard Space Flight Center An artist’s rendering of Nasa's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory. Photograph: Chris Smith/KBRwyle/NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Nasa Spacecraft returns to Earth after rescue mission for ageing Nasa telescope fails Series of in-flight problems meant Link, a ‘commercial space robot’, could not salvage the Nasa observatory

Prefer the Guardian on Google A spacecraft that was launched in July on a mission to rescue a decaying Nasa space observatory plunged back to Earth on Friday, concluding a failed mission that will be followed by the telescope’s own demise in several weeks’ time.