A vintage NASA satellite burned up as it re-entered the Earth's atmosphere after 56 years in space.
The space agency launched the satellite, called Orbiting Geophysics Observatory 1, or OGO-1, in September 1964, the first of five missions to research the magnetic environment around Earth.
Since its retirement in 1971, the satellite had circled Earth aimlessly gradually losing speed and altitude until on the weekend the planet's gravity pulled it downward to its fiery end.
READ MORE: Aussie rocks may hold clues to finding life on Mars
On Saturday it re-entered Earth's atmosphere about 160 km south east of Tahiti over the southern Pacific Ocean.
Tahiti-based photographer Bruno Levionnois captured the final dramatic moments of OGO-1 and posted footage on social media.
The images showed flames erupting from the satellite as it passed over the island before it broke into tiny pieces.
Experts believe most of the space craft was incinerated and any remaining debris fell harmlessly into the sea.
The 500kg observatory was launched in 1964 and only operated for a few years studying Earth's magnetosphere - the region of space surrounding our planet that is controlled by Earth's magnetic field.
Its data proved valuable for NASA researchers, but after it encountered technical problems, the mission was abandoned in 1971.
Four similar satellites launched in the 1960s have already been retired. They - like OCO-1 – re entered the Earth's atmosphere and their debris landed in various patches of the ocean.
Source: https://ift.tt/3hNOtAr
Comments
Post a Comment