NASA's Rhessi satellite, launched in 2002, tumbled to Earth over the Sahara Desert. The agency said the crash of the 660-pound spacecraft occurred early in the morning in Sudan.
, known as the Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager or Rhessi, fell to Earth over the Sahara Desert. The crash occurred early in the morning in Sudan.
While most of the 660-pound satellite was expected to burn up while tumbling through the Earth's atmosphere, NASA had anticipated some pieces would survive the fall after nearly 21 years in orbit. NASA had previously said there was an approximately one in 2,567 chance that someone could be harmed by the debris.
Between 200 and 400 tracked objects enter Earth's atmosphere annually on average, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Service.are tracked by the Department of Defense’s global Space Surveillance Network sensors, with much more debris existing in the near-Earth space environment.
Launched in 2002, Rhessi observed solar flares from its low-Earth orbit up until its decommissioning in 2018 following a communication problem. The spacecraft launched aboard an Orbital Sciences Corporation Pegasus XL rocket. Data from the satellite and its imaging spectrometer helped provide vital information about solar flares and their associated coronal mass ejections.
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