GOCE satellite expected to reenter Sunday night
Posted: Sat, Nov 9, 2013, 9:20 AM ET (1420 GMT)
A European satellite in a decaying orbit is expected to reenter late Sunday or early Monday, but poses very little risk to people on Earth. ESA's Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer, or GOCE, launched in 2009 to map the Earth's gravity field in high detail, providing information on the planet's interior as well as circulation patters in the oceans. The spacecraft maintained its low orbit with ion thrusters, exhausting the xenon fuel for them last month. Since then the orbit of the spacecraft has decayed, and ESA officials now believe the spacecraft will reenter Sunday night. Some debris from the one-ton spacecraft will survive reentry, but the odds of any debris causing damage or injury is extremely low, ESA believes.
A European satellite in a decaying orbit is expected to reenter late Sunday or early Monday, but poses very little risk to people on Earth. ESA's Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer, or GOCE, launched in 2009 to map the Earth's gravity field in high detail, providing information on the planet's interior as well as circulation patters in the oceans. The spacecraft maintained its low orbit with ion thrusters, exhausting the xenon fuel for them last month. Since then the orbit of the spacecraft has decayed, and ESA officials now believe the spacecraft will reenter Sunday night. Some debris from the one-ton spacecraft will survive reentry, but the odds of any debris causing damage or injury is extremely low, ESA believes.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
Space Force adds Rocket Lab and Stoke Space to NSSL contract
Posted: Sun, Mar 30 9:19 AM ET (1319 GMT) |
|
news links
|
|
Friday, April 4
‘Mind-boggling’: Space Force chief fires off dire warning about Chinese capability to knock out US satellites
Fox News — 5:52 am ET (0952 GMT) How China is expanding its anti-satellite arsenal
Defense One — 5:52 am ET (0952 GMT) Rocket Lab And Stoke Space Join U.S. NSSL Lane 1 Vendor Pool
Aviation Week — 5:52 am ET (0952 GMT) Olivia Munn criticizes all-female Blue Origin space crew: ‘What’s the point?’
The Independent — 5:50 am ET (0950 GMT) Olivia Munn slams ‘gluttonous’ female Blue Origin crew going to space: ‘People can’t afford eggs’
New York Post — 5:49 am ET (0949 GMT) |
