A Vintage, Last-of-Its-Kind Aircraft Will Launch NASA's Swift Rescue Mission

A space telescope is falling to Earth, but NASA has a bold plan to rescue it before it’s too late. The agency is launching a daring rescue mission later this month using the world’s last flying mothership of its kind—the Lockheed L-1011 Stargazer. On June 27, NASA is set to launch LINK, a servicing spacecraft from Katalyst Space, into orbit to attempt to boost the sinking Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory. The spacecraft will launch on board a Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL rocket, which is mounted underneath the the Lockheed L-1011 TriStar, the only remaining aircraft of its kind capable of launching an orbital rocket from the air. The Lockheed L-1011 Stargazer was built in 1974 as a wide-body passenger airline, one of the first to feature two aisles to add more seats. In 1994, Stargazer was converted to an air-launch platform for Northrop Grumman’s Pegasus XL rocket. Northrop Grumman’s Orbital Sciences Corporation selected Marshall Aerospace to perform the design and conversion of Stargazer to accommodate its new duties. The new design allows the aircraft to carry the rocket beneath its fuselage and deploy it at high altitudes. The mothership carries the rocket to an altitude of 40,000