January 11, 2023, 5:25 PM
January 11, 2023, 5:25 PM
After nearly 40 years circling the Earth, NASA’s retired ERBS (Earth Radiation Budget Satellite) science satellite hurtled harmlessly through the atmosphere off the coast of Alaska, NASA reported this Monday (01.09.2023).
The Department of Defense confirmed that the satellite – put into orbit in 1984 by astronaut Sally Ride– re-entered late Sunday night over the Bering Sea, a few hundred kilometers from Alaska. NASA said it has received no reports of injuries or damage from the falling debris.
Odds of 1 in 9,400
Late last week, NASA said that expected that most of the 2,450-kilogram satellite (5,400 pounds) to burn up in the atmosphere, but that some pieces might survive. According to the space agency, the odds of falling debris injuring someone are 1 in 9,400.
The space shuttle Challenger put the satellite into orbit and the first American woman in space released it. The satellite measured ozone in the atmosphere and studied how the Earth absorbed and radiated energy from the Sun, before being retired in 2005, well beyond its expected useful life.
The successor to the satellite lives on aboard the Space Station International, where the aerosol measurement instrument helps collect up-to-date data on the ozone layer to this day.
