NASA will host an audio-only media teleconference at 11 a.m. EDT, Wednesday, June 17, to preview the Katalyst Space mission to boost the orbit of NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory.
Katalyst’s robotic servicing spacecraft, called LINK, will attempt to rendezvous with Swift and raise its altitude, extending its science mission lifespan and advancing a key capability for the future of space exploration. The LINK spacecraft will launch on Northrop Grumman’s Pegasus XL rocket later this month from Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands.
Media interested in participating by phone must RSVP no later than two hours before the start of the call to Amy Barra at: [email protected]. NASA’s media accreditation policy is available online.
Audio of the media teleconference will stream on the agency’s website at:
Participants in the media teleconference include:
Shawn Domagal-Goldman, division director, Astrophysics, NASA Headquarters in Washington
Brad Cenko, principal investigator, Swift, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland
Kieran Wilson, principal investigator, LINK, Katalyst Space
Robert Lamontagne, vice president, strategic partnerships, Katalyst Space
Wes Collier, vice president, launch systems, Northrop Grumman
The Swift mission, which launched in 2004, leads NASA’s fleet of telescopes in studying changes in the high-energy universe, like gamma-ray bursts, which are the most powerful explosions in the cosmos. When a rapid, sudden event takes place in the sky, Swift serves as a “dispatcher,” providing critical information that allows other “first responder” miss …