Look Out! Old NASA Satellite Expected To Crash Onto Earth This Weekend
LAS VEGAS, NV – JANUARY 11: The NASA logo is displayed at the agency’s booth during CES 2018 at the Las Vegas Convention Center on January 11, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. CES, the world’s largest annual consumer technology trade show, runs through January 12 and features about 3,900 exhibitors showing off their latest products and services to more than 170,000 attendees. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Nearly 40 years after it was launched, a retired NASA satellite is coming home.
The 5,400-pound Earth Radiation Budget Satellite — which was launched in 1984 onboard the space shuttle Challenger — is expected to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere this weekend, NASA reported on Saturday.
Although most of it is expected to burn up upon re-entry Sunday evening, pieces of the satellite will likely survive and end up crashing onto Earth, according to NASA.
But don’t take cover just yet. The chances of someone being hit by a piece of falling satellite debris is one-in-9,400, NASA officials say.
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