The European Space Agency begins maneuvers to crash the ‘Aeolus’ satellite into Earth this Friday

July 24 () –

The European Space Agency (that) has started this Monday the maneuvers to crash the satellite into the Earth Aeoluslaunched on August 22, 2018 from Kourou (French Guiana) with the aim of improving weather forecasts and climate models.

So, After a five-year mission to improve weather forecasts, the satellite will return to Earth in an assisted reentrythe first of its kind, as reported by ESA.

From the ESA Space Operations Center in Germany, they are using the remaining fuel from the satellite to steer it on its re-entry to Earth.

The re-entry is scheduled to end this Friday, July 28, when a team will guide the Aeolus satellite to an area of ​​the Atlantic Ocean, as far away as possible from the mainland.

When it is about 80 kilometers from the Earth’s surface, most of the satellite will burn up, although some fragments may reach Earth.

The ESA says that the risk of a person being hit by a piece of space debris is approximately three times less than the risk of a meteorite falling.

By targeting the Atlantic Ocean, which offers the best satellite visibility during the final critical phases of re-entry, the attempt will further reduce Aeolus’ re-entry risk by 42 times compared to a natural re-entry.