The NASA Erbs scientific satellite, in orbit for almost 40 years and no longer operational, is falling uncontrollably towards the Earth: its entry into the atmosphere is expected in the night between 8 and 9 January. According to the most recent calculations available by the United States Department of Defense, entry into the atmosphere is expected at 00.40 Italian time on January 9, with a margin of more or less 17 hours.
According to NASA forecasts, the Erbs satellite (Earth Radiation Budget Satellite), weighing almost two and a half tons, should be almost completely destroyed in the impact with the atmosphere, but some fragments could still reach the ground. For the American space agency “the risk of someone being hit is calculated at 1 in 9,400”.
Launched in 1984 with the shuttle Challenger, the Erbs satellite was designed to operate for two years, but its operational life was much longer. For 21 years, in fact, its instruments have collected data on the atmosphere and climate, measuring the levels of ozone, water vapor and aerosols. Erbs stopped working in 2005, becoming one of the now very numerous space debris in Earth’s orbit.
The NASA satellite is the latest in a long line of objects falling uncontrollably from space: a phenomenon that has now become very common, so much so that experts estimate that similar episodes occur every one or two days. Among the most striking cases, the most recent was the central stage of the Chinese 25-ton Long March 5B rocket used to bring the new modules of the Chinese space station under construction into orbit.
It was the fourth time for the Chinese launcher, after the uncontrolled returns that took place in May 2020, May 2021 and July 2022. The fragments of the last two had fortunately fallen into the Pacific Ocean, but in May 2020 they had ended up on a village on the Costa of ivory