Top News From WTOP – 5PM UPDATE – MARCH 29, 2026

By WTOP Staff
March 29, 2026 | 10:00 PM

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Rescue satellite gets close to NASA’s doomed telescope, even if it can’t save it

By The Associated Press
September 4, 2026 | 10:13 AM

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A private spacecraft that was supposed to supply a lifeline to NASA’s Swift Observatory managed to get close to the sinking telescope and even snap photos more than a week after the rescue was abandoned. But the three-armed robotic salvager had to turn away because of low fuel, according to Katalyst Space Technologies, which attempted the daring operation. “We got so close, but so far,” Katalyst CEO Ghonhee Lee told The Associated Press this week. Katalyst's Link spacecraft got within 15 kilometers (nine miles) of Swift last weekend, using its own sensors to gather data on the doomed telescope for NASA. The rescue effort had already been called off in August because of Link's own troubles in orbit, but the company wanted the practice for future satellite service calls.

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