After nearly 40 years in space, NASA’s Earth Radiation Reconnaissance Satellite (ESRB) will crash into the atmosphere on 1/8 of US time and be destroyed. In this regard, NASA has calculated that most of the satellite’s components will burn up after entering the atmosphere, but still very few components may reach the surface.
NASA said on ESRB’s imminent re-entry that the destruction of most of the ESRB satellite’s components by submersion is aimed at making the satellite de-orbit more gracefully and reducing the risk of debris remaining in space. It is understood that the satellite was released into orbit in 1984 by the Challenger space shuttle.
According to a document issued by NASA in November 2019, it is required that when the components of a satellite out of Earth orbit fall to the ground, any risk of impacting humans on Earth must be less than one in ten thousand. However, the risk of this old satellite, which has been orbiting the earth for nearly 40 years, is relatively higher.
Regarding this situation, NASA pointed out in a statement that most of the satellites are expected to burn up when passing through the atmosphere, but some components are still expected to survive re-entry. However, the risk of harm to any human on Earth is very low, about 1 in 9400.
In addition, NASA estimates that the ESRB satellite will enter a 17-hour window around 6:40 pm Eastern Time on 1/8 (7:40 am Taipei Time on 1/9). Predict where on Earth the debris that may fall will be destroyed.
