Featured Image Credit: NASA
Topics: Space, NASA, Earth, Science, Technology
Ellie Kemp
A 1,300 pound spacecraft is due to crash down to Earth today (Tuesday March 10), nearly 14 years after launching.
We've already had alien discovery predictions and an update on a potential 'city-killer' asteroid in the past week alone, but turns out this latest space news is actually nothing to worry about.
Back in August 2012, NASA sent two probes to the Van Allen belts, two doughnut-shaped zones of high-energy charged particles trapped by our planet's magnetic field, some 40,000 miles above Earth,
In what was originally a two year mission, the 1,323-pound Van Allen Probe A and its twin, B, worked to understand how particles were gained and lost.
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They spent almost seven years travelling the belts, with the mission ending after the spacecraft ran out of fuel and could no longer orient itself towards the Sun.
NASA explains that 'several major discoveries' about how the radiation belts operate were made during the mission's lifetime, 'including the first data showing the existence of a transient third radiation belt, which can form during times of intense solar activity.'
Now, Probe A will be wrapping up its time in space as it re-enters Earth's atmosphere at approxmiately 7.45 pm EDT on Tuesday.
NASA said it expects most of the spacecraft to burn up as it travels through the atmosphere, but added 'some components are expected to survive re-entry.'
The space agency added: "The risk of harm coming to anyone on Earth is low - approximately 1 in 4,200.
"NASA and Space Force will continue to monitor the re-entry and update predictions."
While the mission lasted longer than expected, the probes' return to Earth is earlier than scientists first thought.
When the mission ended in 2019, it was believed the probes would not re-enter our atmosphere until 2034.
So, why is Probe A returning eight years prematurely?
As NASA explains, those calculations were made before the current solar cycle, which has 'proven far more active than expected.'
"In 2024, scientists confirmed the Sun had reached its solar maximum, triggering intense space weather events.
"These conditions increased atmospheric drag on the spacecraft beyond initial estimates, resulting in an earlier-than-expected re-entry," NASA adds.
Once Van Allen Probe A has returned - or burnt up in the atmosphere - that leaves twin Probe B floating aimlessly alone in the depths of space.
The latter isn't expected to re-enter our atmosphere before 2030, meaning it will spend four years solo.
Whenever you look up at the sky after this evening, spare a thought for the lonely space probe, without its twin for the first time since its launch.