2024-02-22 17:04:00
(CNN) — A European Space Agency (ESA) satellite re-entered Earth’s atmosphere over the North Pacific Ocean between Alaska and Hawaii on Wednesday afternoon and there have been no reports of damage so far, according to the agency. .
The agency’s Space Debris Office, along with an international surveillance network, monitored and tracked the ERS-2 Earth observation satellite throughout February to make predictions about the reentry, which occurred at 12:17 p.m. Wednesday. ESA provided continuous live updates on their website.
About 50 miles (80 kilometers) above Earth’s surface, the satellite broke up due to atmospheric drag and most of the fragments were expected to burn up in the atmosphere. The agency said it was possible that some fragments reached the planet’s surface, but that the pieces did not contain any harmful substances and probably fell into the ocean.
The exact time was unclear even in the days before re-entry due to the unpredictability of solar activity, which can change the density of Earth’s atmosphere and how the atmosphere pulls on the satellite. As the sun approaches the peak of its 11-year cycle, known maximum solar, solar activity has been increasing. Solar maximum is expected to occur later this year.
The sun’s increased activity has already had an impact by accelerating the re-entry of ESA’s Aeolus satellite in July 2023.
The ERS-2 satellite had an estimated mass of 5,057 pounds (2,294 kilograms) after depleting its fuel, according to the agency.
“Uncontrolled re-entry into the atmosphere has long been a common method of disposing of space objects at the end of their mission,” Tim Flohrer, head of the agency’s Office of Space Debris, said in a statement. “We see objects similar in size or larger than ERS-2 reentering the atmosphere several times a year.”
An illustration shows ESA’s ERS-2.
The history of ERS-2
The ERS-2 Earth observation satellite was first launched on April 21, 1995 and was the most sophisticated satellite of its type developed and launched at that time by Europe.
Together with its twin, ERS-1, the satellite collected valuable data about the planet’s polar caps, oceans and land surfaces and observed disasters such as floods and earthquakes in remote areas. According to the agency, the data collected by ERS-2 is still used today.
“ERS satellites have provided a stream of data that has changed our view of the world we live in,” Simonetta Cheli, director of the agency’s Earth Observation Programs, said in a statement. “They have provided us with new knowledge about our planet, the chemistry of our atmosphere, the behavior of our oceans and the effects of human activity on our environment, creating new opportunities for scientific research and applications.”
In 2011, the agency decided to end the satellite’s operations and deorbit it, rather than add to the spiral of space debris orbiting the planet.
The satellite performed 66 deorbit maneuvers in July and August 2011 before the mission officially ended later that year on September 11. The maneuvers consumed the rest of the satellite’s fuel and reduced its altitude, putting ERS-2’s orbit on a slow spiral trajectory closer to Earth and re-entering the atmosphere within 15 years.
The chances of a person being injured by space debris each year are less than 1 in 100 billion, about 1.5 million times lower than the risk of dying in an accident at home, according to the agency.
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