Daily briefing: NASA to launch satellite-rescue mission

You have full access to this article via your institution. Hello Nature readers, would you like to get this Briefing in your inbox free every day? Sign up here . The LINK spacecraft (centre) is tested at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. The craft is scheduled to blast off as early as 27 June on a satellite-rescue mission. Credit: NASA/Sophia Roberts NASA is preparing to launch a first-of-its-kind mission to rescue an ageing satellite from an impending fiery death . The mission aims to raise the orbit of the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, which gathers valuable data on cosmic explosions but is slowly falling to Earth. The robotic craft will fly to Swift, grab it with extendable arms and ferry it upwards by around 200 kilometres. That should be high enough to get Swift past the atmospheric drag that would otherwise force it to fall out of the sky by the end of this year. Nature | 5 min read A new type of liquid can harvest and store energy from light to act as a rechargeable power source . The liquid contains two types of molecule, one of which donates an electron to the other when exposed to light. The donation prompts the liquid to restructure into a jelly-like substance. This gel remains stable for months at a time and can release the stored electrons upon contact with oxygen to power chemical reactions. The research is still in very early stages, but such a metal-free energy storage system could one day be useful to power small devices such as smartwatches. …