The reentry assist, a world first, meant teams were tasked with guiding Aeolus through part of its descent, from an altitude of 320 kilometers to 120 kilometers, before burning up in Earth's atmosphere.
A trailblazing satellite has returned to Earth after a complicated assisted crash that marked the first of its kind in history, the European Space Agency announced last week. like the ruler of winds in Greek mythology, initially launched in 2018 to observe the planet's weather patterns and conduct climate research on a global scale.
Aeolus continued to observe Earth from space for the better part of 4 1/2 years —around 18 months longer than its anticipated lifespan— before beginning its descent back toward the atmosphere earlier this summer. With an intended crash site set in the Atlantic Ocean, officials said risks that falling debris could harm people or property were minimal as the satellite burned up on its way down.
But, to demonstrate what the European Space Agency said is its"wider commitment to to the long-term safety and sustainability of space activities," the agency used the defunct orbiter's dwindling fuel supply to successfully carry out an"assisted reentry" in an effort to reduce the likelihood of lost debris altogether.
It aimed to position the satellite in such a way"so that any pieces that may not have burned up in the atmosphere would fall within the satellite's planned Atlantic ground tracks," the ESA
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