“The chance that the debris will fall on anyone is very low,” NASA said, according to the Associated Press.
What do we know about the satellite?
- The Earth’s Radiation Budget Satellite was launched in 1984 aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger.
- It weighs 5,400 pounds (2,450 kilograms).
- Most of it will burn up on re-entry, but some pieces are expected to hold together.
- The odds of injury from falling debris are estimated by NASA to be about 1 in 9,400.
- The science satellite is expected to fall Sunday night, in or take 17 hours, according to the US Department of Defense.
- California-based Aerospace Corp. believes the fall will happen on Monday morning, in 13 hours.
- The fall will occur in a path that passes over Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and the westernmost regions of North and South America.
What did he offer?
Despite having a life expectancy of two years, the satellite continued to make measurements of the ozone layer, and other atmospheric measurements, until its retirement in 2005.
The Moon studied how the Earth absorbs and generates energy from the Sun.
Historic launch
- The first American woman in space, Sally Ride, launched the satellite into orbit using the robotic arm of the shuttle Challenger.
- The same mission also saw the first spacewalk by an American woman, Kathryn Sullivan. This was the first time that two women had flown in space together.
- This was Ride’s second and final spaceflight, who passed away in 2012.
#wreckage #retired #satellite #fall #people #NASA #explains