The Swift Observatory has been doing great work studying gamma-ray bursts since 2004, but recent solar storms decided to play a cruel game of orbital limbo, pushing it lower and lower until it risked burning up in Earth's atmosphere as soon as this year. To prevent this $500 million piece of space history from turning into a very expensive shooting star, NASA called in Katalyst Space Technologies. The company's Link spacecraft launched Friday with a mission to intercept Swift - which lacks its own propulsion, because apparently no one in 2004 thought to give it one - and boost its orbit back up. Swift is currently circling at a rather alarming altitude of 224 miles, and Link aims to raise that by about 150 miles.

Using a three-armed spacecraft to lift a satellite 150 miles higher is already the kind of thing that makes engineers sweat, but the speed of this operation adds an extra layer of impressiveness. NASA demanded a rush job because Swift would be too low to save by October. So in just nine months and for a mere $30 million - a bargain compared to the telescope's $500 million price tag - help is on the way. The Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, which has been crucial for studying gamma-ray bursts and understanding the early universe, may yet live to see another cosmic explosion.