NASA launched this spacecraft to save a satellite. Now, it needs saving too

NASA launched the Swift Boost mission earlier this month to try and save one of its aging science observatories, but the rescue spacecraft is now experiencing control issues.

The top 3

  1. Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Missions: NASA astronauts undertook five complex servicing missions to the Hubble Space Telescope, repairing its flawed mirror and upgrading instruments, significantly extending its operational life beyond expectations.
  2. Skylab's In-Orbit Repair and Reboost Plan: America's first space station, Skylab, suffered significant damage during launch in 1973, prompting astronauts to perform an urgent spacewalk to free a jammed solar array and deploy a sunshade to save the mission. There were also ambitious plans for a Space Shuttle mission to reboost Skylab, which ultimately never happened before its re-entry.
  3. Apollo 13: The Successful Failure: The Apollo 13 mission in 1970 became a dramatic rescue operation after an oxygen tank exploded, forcing the crew and ground control to improvise life-saving repairs and a return trajectory with severely limited resources.

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