A spacecraft the size of a small car is expected to crash into Earth within weeks, reports say European Space Agency (ESA).
Launched in 2018, the Aeolus spacecraft has already exceeded its predicted three-year lifetime in Earth orbit by more than 18 months. Now the 1.3 tonne satellite is running out of fuel.
To ensure enough fuel remains for a few final maneuvers, ESA’s spacecraft operators steer Aeolus back toward our planet’s atmosphere. Right now, the satellite is falling about one kilometer every day.
Although a large portion of the satellite will burn up during its fall through the atmosphere, a portion of the spacecraft is expected to crash somewhere on Earth.
First of its kind
Now the ESA will perform the first maneuver of its kind, using Aeolus’ last remaining fuel in an attempt to safely steer the spacecraft towards a distant part of Earth’s oceans for “landing”. This is to further reduce the already very small chance that the spacecraft’s fragments will cause damage when it reaches the Earth’s surface.
ESA describes this as the first assisted re-entry of its kind and believes that as an organization they are “leading by example” in responsible approaches to the re-entry of space objects.
The maneuver is considered a step in the right direction to reduce the ever-increasing problem of space debris and uncontrolled re-entries.
– Through Aeolus’ assisted re-entry, ESA is paving the way for future missions to continue taking the pulse of our planet. They can only do this if the Earth’s orbits are not filled with dangerous space debris, the ESA says.
Acclaimed assignment
Aeolus has been repeatedly hailed as one of the most successful missions ever built and flown by ESA. The satellite was originally built to demonstrate a new space technology, but Aeolus instead became one of the weather satellites with the highest data collection per observation.
ESA has also taken advantage of Aeolus’ last time in use. And during the re-entry phase, scientists have put the satellite’s instruments in a special mode to be able to perform activities and record data from the final stage of the craft that will help prepare the follow-up mission Aeolus-2 “which, like a Phoenix, will rise from the ashes of its predecessor ”, says ESA.
READ ALSO: New image from the James Webb telescope shows how stars are born
READ ALSO: The European Euclid telescope has left Earth
READ ALSO: Jeff Bezos’ secret rocket explosion revealed
Do you want to know more about how GP works with quality journalism? Read our ethical rules here.
Because
Because
Because
Copy link
2023-07-14 15:15:03
#satellite #size #car #crashes #Earth
