Artist rendition of Van Allen Probes spacecraft. (NASA via SWNS)
By Dean Murray
A satellite larger than a grand piano is expected to crash to Earth this week.
NASA’s Van Allen Probe A is expected to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere eight years earlier than expected.
The space agency said much of the 1,323-pound spacecraft would burn up as it re-enters the atmosphere, but some components are expected to survive re-entry.
NASA said: "The risk of harm coming to anyone on Earth is low — approximately 1 in 4,200. NASA and Space Force will continue to monitor the re-entry and update predictions."
Wikimedia Commons
The US Space Force predicted that the satellite will re-enter the atmosphere at approximately 11:45pm UK-time on Tuesday (Mar 10) but admitted that schedule comes "with an uncertainty of +/- 24 hours."
Originally designed for a two-year mission, the Van Allen Probes A and B launched on August 30, 2012, and gathered unprecedented data on Earth’s two permanent radiation belts — named for scientist James Van Allen — forâ¯almost sevenâ¯years.
NASA ended the mission after the two spacecraft ran out of fuel and were no longer able to orient themselves towards the Sun.â¯
Van Allen Probe B, the twin of the re-entering spacecraft, is not expected to re-enter before 2030.