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A defunct NASA satellite has fallen to earth after 38 years of orbiting the earth.
The Earth Radiation Balance Satellite, known as ERBS, was launched in 1984 aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger.
Until 2005, ERBS data helped researchers investigate how the Earth absorbs and emits energy from the Sun, measuring concentrations of ozone, water vapor, nitrogen dioxide, and aerosols in the Earth’s stratosphere.
According to a NASA statement, the US Department of Defense confirmed that the ERBS re-entered Earth’s atmosphere at 11:04 pm ET on Sunday, over the Bering Sea.
It was not immediately clear whether some of the satellites survived reentry. Most of the satellites were expected to burn up as they travel through the atmosphere. NASA calculated that the risk of harm to anyone on Earth is very low, about 1 in 9,400.
The satellite operated for a total of 21 years, far exceeding its expected two-year lifespan.
According to NASA, the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment II (SAGE II) aboard the ERBS collected data confirming that the ozone layer is depleting on a global scale.
The data is Montreal Protocol Agreement, An international agreement signed by dozens of countries in 1987 dramatically reduced the use of ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) worldwide. CFCs are chemicals that were once commonly used in aerosol sprays, refrigerators and air conditioners.
Without an agreement to ban CFCs, the world would have experienced a collapse of the ozone layer and an additional 2.5 degrees of global warming by the end of the century. A 2021 study was found.
Today, the International Space Station’s SAGE III is collecting data on the health of the ozone layer.
