A 1,300-Pound NASA Satellite Just Made a Fiery Return to Earth
Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:
The Van Allen Probe A satellite spent seven years measuring radiation and nearly 14 years total in space.
Once the mission ended, NASA originally calculated that the probes would fall back to Earth sometime in 2032. The agency acknowledges, though, that it didn't account for the current solar maximum, a period of increased instability on the sun, which leads to more intense space weather events. NASA says the extra solar wind caused drag on the probe, causing a descent faster than initial calculations predicted.
Data from these probes is still used today to measure and predict the impact of solar winds and radiation on communications systems, navigation satellites, power grids and even astronauts in space. The radiation that the Van Allen Probes studied is also the same radiation responsible for all of those gorgeous auroras Earth has been getting lately.
NASA said most of the spacecraft likely burned up as it sped downward through the atmosphere, although some components may have survived.
The agency originally predicted the return for around 7:45 p.m. ET Tuesday, noting that it could take up to 24 hours for the event to occur. It was off by 11 hours.
Before the splashdown, NASA predicted a 1 in 4,200 chance of any wreckage landing somewhere that could cause human harm. The coordinates that the space agency gave Wednesday for the reentry point -- approximately 2 degrees south latitude and 255.3 degrees east longitude -- are just south of the Equator and west of South America, meaning well out over the ocean.
The probe's partner, Van Allen Probe B, is also scheduled to crash back to Earth, but it isn't expected to arrive until 2030 or later.
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