© 2026 New Hampshire Public Radio

Persons with disabilities who need assistance accessing NHPR's FCC public files, please contact us at publicfile@nhpr.org.
Support
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
August is National Make a Will Month, a reminder to create or review important plans for the future. Check out a resource many of our supporters find helpful: LegacyPlanner is a secure online service that makes it easy to create or update your will -- for free.

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 5:23 PM EDT

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.

Copyright 2026 NPR
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

You make NHPR possible.

NHPR is nonprofit and independent. We rely on readers like you to support the local, national, and international coverage on this website. Your support makes this news available to everyone.

Give today. A monthly donation of $5 makes a real difference.