ERS-2 took off from French Guiana in April 1995.
Nearly The ERS-2 satellite, which went into space 30 years ago, is expected to fall into the Earth's atmosphere today, says European Space Agency (ESA).
According to Esa, the satellite will probably be largely destroyed when it falls. However, occasional pieces of satellite may end up on the Earth's surface, but they are expected to end up mainly in the ocean.
On Wednesday morning, Esa estimated that the satellite would arrive in the Earth's atmosphere in the evening at around 7:30 Finnish time. However, the forecast may be off by several hours, as the speed of fall is affected by the density of the atmosphere.
ERS-2 took to the skies from French Guiana in April 1995, reported HS almost 30 years ago. It was supposed to replace ERS-1, which was sent into space four years earlier.
ERS-2 was one of the most sophisticated satellites of its time and focused on monitoring the environment, such as floods, sea temperatures and earthquakes. As a novelty of its time, ERS-2 was able to monitor the Earth's ozone layer, he says British broadcasting company BBC.
The satellite's operations were stopped in 2011. According to the BBC, due to a malfunction, its predecessor ERS-1 is still more than 700 kilometers above the Earth. From that height, it may take up to a hundred years for ERS-1 to fall back to Earth.
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