An old satellite weighing more than 2 tons will crash this week

The European Space Agency (ESA) has warned of an imminent danger that the Earth will face in the coming hours. The organization confirmed that an ancient satellite weighing more than 2000 kilograms that monitored our planet in orbit will fall to the surface sometime this week.

What will happen to the ERS-2 satellite, which is about to “return” to Earth?

He EPC-2 satellite This is the second spacecraft launched into orbit by ESA as part of the EO mission. He was launched into space April 21, 1995 and was in effect until 2011. During his 16 years of life, he took photographs documenting changes in the Earth’s surface, melting poles and rising sea levels, as well as warming oceans and other problems associated with the atmosphere. .

However, 13 years after entering the period of inactivity and due to the danger of its collision with other active satellitesThe European Space Agency decided that return to Earth through natural “reentry”, which will cause it to almost completely disintegrate upon contact with the atmosphere..

The main problem is that this satellite weighs more than about 2.2 tons, so it will not disintegrate completely in the atmosphere, and some small pieces will fall to the surface of the Earth: 52 kilograms: “On average, an object of this size falls to Earth every one to two weeks.” The risk of hitting a person is only 1 in 100,000,000,000..