Aeolus' fiery death will be a milestone moment in spaceflight.
The spacecraft's data have helped researchers improve their climate models and weather forecasts, ESA officials have said. And there is more of this data than the mission team expected: Aeolus operated for nearly 4.5 years, about 18 months longer than its planned scientific lifetime.drag Aeolus down in a chaotic fashion, as is the norm for orbiting satellites, mission team members decided to take a more active role in the spacecraft's demise.
That threat, though small, is real whenever a satellite falls uncontrolled to Earth: In general, about 20% of a spacecraft's mass survives the fiery trip through the atmosphere and hits terra firma . And there's a lot of stuff up there just waiting to come down. "Today, we have 10,000 spacecraft in space, of which 2,000 are not functional. In terms of mass, we are speaking about 11,000 tons," Krag said at the July 19 press conference. fall to Earth each year, and large objects reenter our atmosphere about once a week on average, he added.stages after orbital launches, could help make a dent in this space-junk problem. And the Aeolus team hopes to lead the way in this respect.
Aeolus' reentry campaign"sets a new precedent for safe spacecraft operations and sustainable spaceflight, for both future missions and those already in orbit," ESA's Rosa Jesse wrote in a
Argentina Últimas Noticias, Argentina Titulares
Similar News:También puedes leer noticias similares a ésta que hemos recopilado de otras fuentes de noticias.
When and where will Europe's Aeolus wind satellite fall to Earth this week?Aeolus' first-of-its-kind reentry is expected to occur Friday (July 28) over a stretch of the Atlantic Ocean.
Leer más »
Listen to music 'written' by doomed Aeolus wind-studying satellite (video)Each instrument in the orchestral arrangement of the Aeolus sonification represents a different type of data collected by the satellite.
Leer más »
LVMH knocks European shares lower after six-day winning runEuropean shares are set to snap a six-day winning run on Wednesday, hurt by underwhelming results from French luxury goods giant LVMH as well as nerves ahead of the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision later in the day.
Leer más »
Unprecedented meteorite believed to have originated from EarthScientists believe NWA 13188 initially sprung from Earth before finding its way back home, and after spending thousands of years in space.
Leer más »
Paris leads European bourses lower as LVMH warning spooks luxury groupsA batch of poorly-received earnings hit European bourses, with France leading declines on fears of soft U.S. demand for luxury goods and as U.K. banks slip.
Leer más »
Earth is coated in ancient space dust that could be from the moonA 33-million-year-old layer of Earth's crust is laced with helium-3, which is normally only found in space. Now we might have an explanation for how it got there
Leer más »