tech
A NASA spacecraft is expected to make an uncontrolled plunge back to Earth. Here are the risks
A massive space probe could plummet into Earth’s atmosphere as soon as Tuesday evening — years earlier than expected. And while most of the spacecraft will likely disintegrate in a flaming blaze during reentry, a few components could survive, according to NASA.
TL;DR
- The Van Allen Probe A is expected to reenter Earth's atmosphere on Tuesday evening, much earlier than the initially predicted 2034.
- Increased solar activity and its associated atmospheric drag are the reasons for the earlier reentry.
- NASA estimates the chance of debris harming a person is about 1 in 4,200, which they consider a low probability.
- The probe, launched in 2012 to study Earth's radiation belts, ran out of fuel and concluded its mission in 2019.
- NASA's policy requires defunct spacecraft to reenter or be safely disposed of within 25 years of mission end.
- The early reentry is a result of mission planners' strategy to burn up the probes in the atmosphere rather than leaving them in orbit.