According to NPR, European Remote Sensing 2, (ERS-2), a European satellite launched in 1995, was recently retired in 2011. Since then, it has slowly been making its way back into the atmosphere.
On Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2024, the European Space Agency (ESA) said that the satellite would re-enter the atmosphere and land sometime around 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024, give or take four and a half hours. They additionally predicted the satellite would fall apart 50 miles above the Earth’s surface and crash into the Pacific Ocean. ESA scientists added that the chance of it landing on anyone’s head was one in a billion.
NPR continues explaining that the satellite crashed at 12:17 p.m. in the Pacific Ocean between Alaska and Hawaii. Nothing was damaged besides the satellite itself. The leftover satellite weighed 115 pounds, but prior to its downfall, ERS-2 weighed almost 5,000 pounds.
During its lifetime, ERS-2 collected weather information alongside its sister-lite, ERS-1. Eventually, ESA scientists attempted to move the satellite from 490 miles above the Earth to 360 miles, but while doing this, ERS-2’s battery died. Following this, scientists chose to slowly return it back to avoid collision from other satellites.
In the end, the return of ERS-2 was successful and nobody was harmed.
