The American space agency (NASA) has just announced that its ERBS satellite will return to Earth. Launched in 1984, it ended its mission in 2005. The device has since been in an inclined orbit 600 kilometers from our planet.
ERBS will have had a rich history, spanning nearly 40 years. It was the Challenger shuttle that took care of setting the object on its final trajectory. Weighing over 2 tons, it was the main objective of the STS 41-G expedition. This mission was one of the last for Challenger, which met with a disastrous fate in January 1986.
Once placed, the satellite concentrated for 30 years on the “radiative” study of the Earth. ERBS sensors watched as the Sun’s rays influenced our planet. The climatic consequences of such an interaction were also examined.
A notable scientific contribution
With its SAGE II device, a photometer, the satellite has also provided data for large-scale climate studies. He was one of the first to confirm the correlation between polluting human activities and global warming. As early as the 1980s, the reduction in the ozone layer and the creation of a “hole” were detected by satellites, including NASA’s ERBS.
Shuttle Challenger taking off in the 1980s © NASA
39 years after leaving Cape Canaveral, ERBS will return to Earth. NASA announced that the risks were “very low” as to a possible fall of fragments on the ground. The US agency expects the device to burn itself out in the upper strata of the atmosphere.
The de-orbiting of a satellite like ERBS is also a symbol of awareness of the dangers of space debris. With a trajectory 600 kilometers above the Earth, the satellite would have ended up becoming harmful for the ISS. The international station must already carry out avoidance maneuvers every week.
The scavenger hunt is on
To fight against this overpopulation, the various government space agencies are now committed to making their devices “clean”. They have a “last resort” propulsion system capable of diverting them from their initial trajectory.
The risk of collision between two satellites in orbit is growing. Such an event could have major consequences for us on Earth. SpaceX’s Starlink constellation is the only solution for accessing the internet in several regions of the world.
A collision between satellites could temporarily cut off the connection to an area on the ground. Less likely, the collision with the ISS is the disaster scenario par excellence. With between 4 and 7 lives on board, the international space station is a ready target for debris.
