WASHINGTON: A decommissioned NASA satellite, RHESSI, is expected to reenter Earth’s atmosphere and come crashing back to the planet in the next few days, according to experts.
The U.S. military has estimated that the satellite will reenter Earth’s atmosphere on Wednesday, April 19, at around 9:30 p.m. EDT, plus or minus 16 hours. While NASA expects most of the spacecraft to burn up as it reenters Earth’s atmosphere, some components are expected to make it through and hit the planet.
The location of where it will hit Earth was not disclosed, but NASA said the risk of it causing harm to anyone on Earth is low, with odds of approximately 1 in 2,467.
RHESSI, which stands for “Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager,” is a relatively small satellite that weighs just 600 pounds (270 kilograms). From 2002 until its decommissioning in 2018, the spacecraft observed solar flares and coronal mass ejections, recording more than 100,000 solar events and helping NASA better understand the underlying physics of how such powerful bursts of energy are created.
Officials said NASA is receiving information from the Department of Defense on when the 660-pound spacecraft is expected to crash back into Earth. While the exact location of where it will hit remains unknown, NASA assures the public that the risk of harm is low.
