NASA’s RHESSI satellite will soon re-enter Earth’s atmosphere after 21 years in orbit, revealing its latest discoveries about the mysteries of the Sun. The risks for the Earth are present, although minimal.
The spaceship RHESSI (Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager), which has been withdrawn from service by NASA, should re-enter Earth’s atmosphere in Aprilalmost 21 years after its launch.
From 2002 until its retirement from service in 2018, RHESSI observed solar flares and coronal mass ejections from low Earth orbit, helping scientists understand the underlying physics of creating these powerful bursts of energy. .
NASA’s RHESSI satellite set to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere after 21 years in orbit
As of April 17, the Department of Defense predicted that the 300 kg spacecraft would re-enter the atmosphere around 3:30 a.m. Thursday, April 20, with an uncertainty of plus or minus 4 p.m. NASA and the Department of Defense will continue to monitor his reinstatement and update forecasts.
NASA expects most of the spacecraft to burn up as it passes through the atmosphere, but some components should survive reintegration. THE risk of harm for anyone on Earth who is weak, approximately 1 in 2,467according to the agency.
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An important satellite for NASA and the scientific community
The spacecraft was launched aboard a Pegasus XL rocket — from Orbital Sciences Corporation — with the mission of imaging the high-energy electrons that carry much of the energy released during solar flares.
He succeeded with his only instrument, an imaging spectrometer, which recorded X-rays and gamma rays from the Sun. Prior to RHESSI, no gamma-ray images or high-energy X-ray images had been taken of solar flares.
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RHESSI data provided vital clues about solar flares and their associated coronal mass ejections. These events release the equivalent of one billion megatons of TNT into the solar atmosphere in minutes and may have effects on Earth, including disruption of electrical systems. Understanding them turned out to be a challenge.
RHESSI has recorded over 100,000 X-ray events, allowing scientists to study energetic particles in solar flares. The imager helped the researchers determine the frequency, location and motion of the particles, which allowed them to understand where the particles were accelerating.
Source : NASA
