Short Wave

NASA's race against time to rescue a falling satellite

July 8, 2026·11 min·4-min readnarrativescience
Podzilla Summary (4 min)
TLDR
NASA is attempting a first-of-its-kind robotic mission to save the aging Swift satellite from re-entering Earth’s atmosphere prematurely, using a refrigerator-sized autonomous spacecraft named Link to boost it into a higher orbit. The mission represents a bold leap in space sustainability

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Guest

B

Brad Sanko

narrative on Short Wave

Mentions

Books, people, and resources mentioned in this episode.

People

Brad SankoNate Rott

Companies

Catalyst

Products & Tools

LinkNeil Gehrels Swift Observatory

Topics

AstronomyClimate ChangeLong Form JournalismScientific MethodSpace ExplorationSustainability

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