Old NASA science satellite plunges back to Earth
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida — An old NASA science satellite plunged uncontrollably from orbit and re-entered over the Pacific on Wednesday.
The US Space Force said the Van Allen A probe had arrived west of the Galapagos Islands.
NASA expected part of the 1,323-pound (600-kilogram) spacecraft to survive entry, with most of it burning up in the atmosphere. The space agency estimates the risk of bodily injury at 1 in 4,200.
Its twin, the Van Allen Probe B, is still in orbit around the Earth, but no longer works.
Launched in 2012, the two spacecraft flew over the Van Allen radiation belts that surround Earth and studied them for seven years before ceasing operations.
When the satellites ran out of fuel in 2019, NASA predicted they would remain in orbit until 2034. But intense solar activity in recent years hastened Probe A’s demise, the space agency said. Probe B is not expected to return before 2030.
Dutch scientist Marco Langbroek said all reentries are difficult to predict, but this one was particularly difficult given its eccentric and unbalanced orbit.
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