A NASA telescope known as the Swift Observatory is plunging back toward Earth after 22 years in orbit, according to a CBS News report on the spacecraft's descent. The CBS News summary says the observatory is "barely clinging to space" after a failed rescue effort left it tottering lower and lower.
The headline and summary together describe a telescope that has spent 22 years in orbit and is now moving back toward the planet. CBS News's headline states that the telescope is plunging back to Earth, and its summary says a failed rescue effort left the observatory sinking lower over time. The summary does not describe what that rescue effort involved or identify who carried it out.
According to CBS News's summary, the observatory is still in space, though only barely. The summary gives no measurement of its height, speed, or position.
CBS News's headline is the only source of the 22-year figure in the material available for this report. The CBS News summary does not say when the telescope's descent is expected to end, whether it will reenter the atmosphere, or where it might land. No other outlet's account was available to confirm or expand on those points.
CBS News is the only outlet cited in this report, and its headline and summary are brief. The full CBS News article may include details not reflected in that material, and this account does not supply them.
Sources: CBS News: NASA telescope is plunging back to Earth after 22 years in orbit.