The spacecraft NASA sent to rescue the falling Swift observatory is in trouble

NASA’s LINK rescue spacecraft has suffered attitude-control failures in orbit and is now spinning.

Reaction wheels are not working properly, and thruster performance is reduced, causing intermittent communications.

LINK was designed by Katalyst Space to rendezvous with and raise the orbit of the aging Swift Observatory.

Teams are trying to stabilize the spacecraft before deciding whether the rescue mission can continue; if it fails, Swift could reenter sooner.