Some debris from a Chinese rocket crashed into the earth’s atmosphere over Malaysia.
A NASA satellite that spent nearly four decades observing the globe’s ozone and measuring radiation energy is expected to crash into Earth’s atmosphere this weekend, ending a historic run.
He last reported space agency The 5,400-pound Earth Radiation Budget Satellite was on track to begin its re-entry process Sunday around 6:40 p.m. EST, but could be off-time by several hours.
Experts say that due to the friction and heat associated with reentry, most of the satellite will burn up, but there is a chance that some small components will survive the process and fall towards Earth’s surface.
NASA Earth Radiation Budget Satellite (ERBS)
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The risk of coming into contact with any of the pieces is considered to be low, at 1 in 9,400, but NASA and the Department of Defense will monitor every movement of the debris.
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The retired ERBS was originally deployed by the Space Shuttle Challenger in 1984 and its mission far exceeded expectations.
When launched, NASA initially expected to use the high-tech machinery for a couple of years, but the satellite remained operational for more than two decades.
During its run, the satellite helped change humans’ understanding of ozone and the important role it plays in protecting Earth from ultraviolet radiation.
“Ozone layer data provided by ERBS was key in the international community’s decision-making process during the Montreal Protocol Agreement, which resulted in a near phase-out of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in industrialized countries.” NASA stated.
The Earth Radiation Budget Satellite was launched in 1984 on the space shuttle Challenger.
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With more nations launching rockets and satellites, the threat of debris reaching the Earth’s surface appears to be becoming more frequent.
In 2022, the world saw how Two Chinese rockets fell uncontrollably to Earth. The debris fell harmlessly over the vast oceans of the southern hemisphere, but space managers said the events had the potential to be catastrophic if the objects landed in large population centers.
At the time, the United States and other countries criticized China for its lack of transparency and cooperation regarding its space program.
He The Department of Defense is tracking more than 27,000 pieces of space junk that poses a significantly greater threat to human spaceflight and satellites than they ever will to life on Earth.
