A spacecraft was sent to rescue a telescope that threatens to fall to Earth

Of the United States the space administration Nasa has sent a spacecraft on Friday to rescue a falling space telescope, says British broadcasting company BBC.

The Swift space telescope, which was launched into space in 2004, threatens to fall back to Earth in the coming months due to increased solar activity.

When it was launched into space, it orbited the Earth at an altitude of about 600 kilometers. Now it is only at an altitude of about 360 kilometers, and without help it would eventually fall back into the atmosphere.

Swift is to be captured by a refrigerator-sized Link spaceship equipped with three robotic arms. The goal is to grab the telescope and push it back into a safer orbit.

Satellites often fall back to Earth and they usually burn up in the atmosphere, but Swift is an exceptionally valuable research instrument, says the BBC.

It is used to study the most powerful explosions in the universe, and according to researchers, there is no decent substitute for it.

The Link spacecraft has plenty of cameras and sensors to help it approach the telescope to be rescued.

Engineers have estimated in advance the best points from which to grab the telescope, but Swift, which has been in space for more than 20 years, may have changed in unexpected ways. Also, its orbit constantly changes as the altitude decreases, making the rescue operation even more challenging.

The operation is characterized as exceptionally ambitious, and according to the BBC, nothing like it has been carried out before.