Washington: A massive uncontrolled satellite re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere on Wednesday, according to the European Space Agency.
The satellite named ERS-2 satellite weighed 2.5 tonnes at launch and was cutting-edge technology when it launched in 1995. But now, the massive satellite is out of control.
It re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere somewhere between Alaska and Hawaii. The risk of the satellite falling into populated areas is negligible but not non-existent.
The satellite provided us with new insights into our planet, the chemistry of our atmosphere, the behaviour of our oceans and the effects of humankind’s activity on our environment.
The satellite was approaching Earth at more than 10km (6 miles) a day, with the speed of its descent increasing rapidly in the final hours. When it reached around 80km, it is assumed to have started to break and then burn up. The exact timing was difficult to predict due to unpredictable atmospheric conditions, which can increase or decrease drag on the satellite, and the probe’s tumbling motion.
The vast majority of the satellite is likely to have burnt up and any pieces that survived are expected to be spread out somewhat randomly over an ocean expanse hundreds of kilometres long and tens of kilometres wide.
