science
After Swift’s re-entry, follow one cosmic burst through its archive
Swift’s final observation and re-entry ended a mission. Its public records still show how one burst was followed from a spacecraft alert to X-ray light curves and radio observations.
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Technicians uncover NASA’s Swift spacecraft in Hangar AE at Cape Canaveral ahead of its 2004 launch. NASA’s dedicated press record dates the photograph to July 2004. Photo: NASA, KSC-04pd1617. Original file unchanged. NASA photo record · Image use terms
NASA’s Swift observatory re-entered over North Sumatra on 4 November. You can still follow one burst from the alert sent by the spacecraft to the light curves published in Leicester and the radio observations reported from South Africa. Start with the name GRB 221009A. It will help you find the same event in several records, each answering a different question. NASA re-entry confirmation · Swift Burst Analyser · MeerKAT observing report
Start with the dates
Swift launched on 20 November 2004. NASA says its final science observation was on 20 October 2026, before it reported the mission’s end on 23 October. NASA’s later re-entry notice first appeared on 2 November and was updated on 4 November after the US Space Force confirmed the spacecraft had entered the atmosphere at 07:39 Eastern Standard Time, or 12:39 GMT. The archive example below is from 2022. NASA mission facts · End of science operations · NASA’s updated notice
See which instrument measured what
Swift was built to turn quickly when the Burst Alert Telescope picked up an event. Its X-ray telescope could then follow the changing signal while its ultraviolet and optical instrument observed at other wavelengths. For this event, the Swift team’s 9 October 2022 circular records the burst-alert trigger, Swift’s turn and early X-ray and optical measurements. The circular preserves what the team knew at that point. NASA instrument guide · Swift team’s observing circular
The alert and the full science data took different routes. NASA’s account of the mission’s data flow describes an early message relayed to the ground, followed by fuller telemetry downloaded on a pass over the Malindi ground station in Kenya, operated by the Italian Space Agency. The archive describes how the processed observations then reached the public collection. NASA’s data flow · Malindi station description · NASA Swift archive
Open the burst record and read its legend
Open the Burst Analyser from the UK Swift Science Data Centre at the University of Leicester. The page for GRB 221009A says it was last updated using observation 01126853000, version 8. In the first observed-flux section, read the instrument legend and the axis units before comparing points. A light curve describes how a signal changes over time. The sections separate the instruments and offer different treatments of the data, including versions that account for absorption. Read the reliability notes if you plan to use the numerical values. UK data centre · Burst record · How the light curves are made
Follow the same name to a ground telescope
Search the event name in the circulars and open number 32740. The team reported a preliminary radio counterpart from MeerKAT, operated by the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory, with observations beginning on 10 October 2022. The circular was published on 13 October. That record describes a different wavelength and later time from Swift’s first report. Put the observing time, instrument and wavelength next to each number you save. That is enough to tell which part of the event you are looking at before downloading a full dataset. MeerKAT circular · PING’s guide to NASA’s Artemis II archive
Sources and disclosures
- Disclosure
- This guide uses NASA mission records, the UK Swift Science Data Centre and observer circulars. AI assisted research and drafting. PING checked the published records and documentation without independently reprocessing the scientific data.
- Declared media rights
- Supplied for permitted editorial use; creator retains rights
- Sources and method
- Checked 9 November 2026. The NASA notice was published 2 November and updated after the 4 November re-entry. The worked observation is from October 2022. Photo: NASA, KSC-04pd1617. Original file unchanged. Technicians uncover NASA’s Swift spacecraft in Hangar AE at Cape Canaveral ahead of its 2004 launch. NASA’s dedicated press record dates the photograph to July 2004. NASA’s dedicated media resource provides the exact original JPEG, credits NASA and carries no third-party copyright marker for this photograph. NASA’s media terms allow credited factual news use with no implied endorsement. This registration covers the unchanged image in a factual PING web article. The technicians wear cleanroom suits with their faces obscured. Standalone use of NASA identifiers, promotion and social or video uses are outside this review. A conflicting older NASA gallery date was excluded in favour of the exact press asset record. The NASA/Swift and Leicester visualisation and NASA SVS videos were considered as viewing references. An original narrated export with playback, audio and caption QA is held. The four platform drafts remain unsent. Cover: Technicians uncover NASA’s Swift spacecraft in Hangar AE at Cape Canaveral ahead of its 2004 launch. NASA’s dedicated press record dates the photograph to July 2004.
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