A ‘defunct’ NASA satellite is about to crash into Earth. However, according to NASA, debris from this aging satellite is unlikely to fall on anyone.
NASA also said most of the 2,450-kilogram satellite would burn up during re-entry. However, NASA added that it may have some remnants.
The US Department of Defense claimed the science satellite could come down on Sunday night. They also said that it will take around 17 hours for the satellite to hit Earth.
However, it is being said by California Aerospace Corp, this satellite may come down to earth on Monday morning. The give or take timing of the satellite can be close to 13 hours, the agency said. The satellite will pass over Africa, the Middle East and North and South America.
The Earth Radiation Budget Satellite or ERBS was launched in 1984 aboard the space shuttle Challenger. Initially, it was thought that the satellite would not operate for more than two years. The satellite carried out measurements and other atmospheric measurements perfectly until its retirement in 2005. The satellite studied how Earth absorbed energy radiated from the Sun.
Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, launched the satellite into orbit with the shuttle’s robotic arm. The mission was also the first spacewalk by an American woman, named Kathryn Sullivan. This is the first mission in which two female astronauts have flown into space together.