satellite size of city bus will fall to earth wednesday
Posted: Tue Feb 20, 2024 3:57 pmhttps://www.usatoday.com/story/graphics ... 569187007/
After 16 years of operation, a defunct satellite will crash back to Earth this Wednesday at approximately 10 a.m. ET, says the European Space Agency, as of Sunday afternoon.
The Agency launched the Heritage ERS-2 satellite in 1995 after its sister satellite, ERS-1. The ERS-2 ended its mission in September 2011.
The space agency used the satellite to track the Earth's decreasing polar ice, shifting land masses, rising sea levels, warming oceans and changing atmospheric chemistry. Since the satellite's retirement, the agency has been slowly lowering its altitude.
The agency said its maneuvers "used up the satellite’s remaining fuel and lowered its average altitude from 785 km (488 miles) to about 573 km (356 miles) in order to greatly reduce the risk of collision with other satellites or space debris." The maneuvers also altered the satellite’s orbit so it would reenter Earth’s atmosphere within 15 years.
How big is the dead ERS-2 satellite?
The ERS-2 satellite is huge compared with other space debris. It's about as long as a city bus and weighs more than 5,000 pounds.
Unable to view our graphics? Click here to see them.
The satellite is now low enough that the atmosphere will cause it to rapidly descend in the coming days. Because ERS-2 is out of fuel, the space agency can't control it with engine burns.
After 16 years of operation, a defunct satellite will crash back to Earth this Wednesday at approximately 10 a.m. ET, says the European Space Agency, as of Sunday afternoon.
The Agency launched the Heritage ERS-2 satellite in 1995 after its sister satellite, ERS-1. The ERS-2 ended its mission in September 2011.
The space agency used the satellite to track the Earth's decreasing polar ice, shifting land masses, rising sea levels, warming oceans and changing atmospheric chemistry. Since the satellite's retirement, the agency has been slowly lowering its altitude.
The agency said its maneuvers "used up the satellite’s remaining fuel and lowered its average altitude from 785 km (488 miles) to about 573 km (356 miles) in order to greatly reduce the risk of collision with other satellites or space debris." The maneuvers also altered the satellite’s orbit so it would reenter Earth’s atmosphere within 15 years.
How big is the dead ERS-2 satellite?
The ERS-2 satellite is huge compared with other space debris. It's about as long as a city bus and weighs more than 5,000 pounds.
Unable to view our graphics? Click here to see them.
The satellite is now low enough that the atmosphere will cause it to rapidly descend in the coming days. Because ERS-2 is out of fuel, the space agency can't control it with engine burns.