The European ERS-2 satellite, which completed its Earth observation mission thirteen years ago, burned up in the atmosphere on Wednesday. This was reported by the European Space Agency (ESA). The remaining remains ended up in the Pacific Ocean.
“We have confirmation that ERS-2 re-entered the atmosphere over the North Pacific Ocean between Alaska and Hawaii at 5:17 PM GMT (6:17 PM Belgian time),” the ESA said on X (Twitter).
The European Space Agency ESA called the risk of damage on Earth very small because the spacecraft would break up into several pieces upon return. “The elements that may end up in the atmosphere are not radioactive or toxic,” stressed Mirko Albani, the head of ESA’s Heritage Missions Programme.
The location and time of the crash were guesswork. For example, the direction of the tumbling satellite and the thickness of the upper atmospheric layers played a role in the eventual location and time of the crash.
The ERS-2 is an observation satellite weighing about 2 tons. When it was launched in 1995, the satellite was “the most advanced Earth observation spacecraft ever developed and launched by Europe,” the ESA said. The device is said to have revolutionized our understanding of the climate crisis. “It has given us new insights into our planet, our atmosphere, the behavior of our oceans and the effects of human activities on our environment,” says Albani.
