2023-07-29 13:34:40
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This Earth observation satellite was launched in 2018 to measure the winds.
Posted on 07/29/2023 15:34 Updated on 07/29/2023 16:32
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A team from the European Space Agency assists the return of the Aeolus satellite to Oberpfaffenhofen (Germany), July 28, 2023. (JÜRGEN MAI / ESA)
He had reached the end of his mission in orbit. The European satellite Aeolus has returned to Earth following an unprecedented maneuver, announced the European Space Agency (ESA) on Saturday July 29. This Earth observation satellite, launched in 2018 to measure the winds, entered the atmosphere in a controlled manner, following several days of maneuvers intended to lower its orbit. The machine of just over a ton, which operated at an altitude of 320 km, indeed gradually descended to 120 km, then entered the atmosphere where it disintegrated on Friday night. see you Saturday.
Low risk of ground damage
Aeolus “successfully entered the corridor we were aiming for, above Antarctica, where there is the least population in the world”, said Benjamin Bastida, engineer in charge of space debris at ESA. Controlled assistance maneuvers in the atmosphere are common on recent satellites: when they reach the end of their life, they are desorbed and directed towards a very precise region of the globe, Nemo point in the South Pacific, the most away from any land surface.
But Aeolus was designed in the late 1990s and “did not have enough propulsion” to fully control its fall and aim for this particular point, which involves descending 50 km, explains the engineer. At an altitude of 120 km, the re-entry of Aeolus was therefore not completely controlled and presented a low risk of debris causing damage to the ground.
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