The defunct 'space Ferrari' burnt up as it fell towards the Southern Ocean
A DEFUNCT satellite, Goce, has fallen to Earth after running out of fuel at the end of its mission. Scientists initially said there was a chance that debris might fall on parts of Italy, but the orbiter was directed towards an empty area of the Southern Ocean east of New Zealand using its last reserves of fuel.
"As expected, the satellite disintegrated in the high atmosphere and no damage to property has been reported," the European Space Agency said in a statement reported in the Independent.
What was Goce?
Goce was the first European Space Agency (ESA) satellite in 25 years to make an uncontrolled re-entry to the Earth's atmosphere, says the BBC. Dubbed the 'Ferrari of Space' for its sleek looks, the Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Explorer was launched in 2009 to circle the Earth, measuring fluctuations in the planet's gravity.
Why is it falling to Earth?
Because of an unusually low orbit for a scientific satellite - just 224km up - Goce had to constantly thrust an electric engine to stay aloft. It has now run out of fuel, except for a small reserve to allow it to be directed away from inhabited parts of the planet's surface as it falls back down.
How big was it?
The satellite had a mass of one tonne - but it began disintegrating and burning up as it encountered Earth's atmosphere today. Sky News says scientists predicted that a piece about the size of a car engine could survive this fiery re-entry to impact on the planet - but would by then have broken into several smaller fragments, each weighing about 90kg.
Does this happen often?
At least one piece of 'space junk' re-enters the atmosphere every day - with one intact spacecraft or rocket body re-entering every week, on average. Most of the debris burns up as it enters the atmosphere. The ESA uses unmanned spacecraft called Automated Transfer Vehicles to re-supply the International Space Station. These perform controlled re-entries, targeted to enter over the oceans, and - again - mostly burning up on re-entry.
A DEFUNCT satellite, Goce, has fallen to Earth after running out of fuel at the end of its mission. Scientists initially said there was a chance that debris might fall on parts of Italy, but the orbiter was directed towards an empty area of the Southern Ocean east of New Zealand using its last reserves of fuel.
"As expected, the satellite disintegrated in the high atmosphere and no damage to property has been reported," the European Space Agency said in a statement reported in the Independent.
What was Goce?
Goce was the first European Space Agency (ESA) satellite in 25 years to make an uncontrolled re-entry to the Earth's atmosphere, says the BBC. Dubbed the 'Ferrari of Space' for its sleek looks, the Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Explorer was launched in 2009 to circle the Earth, measuring fluctuations in the planet's gravity.
Why is it falling to Earth?
Because of an unusually low orbit for a scientific satellite - just 224km up - Goce had to constantly thrust an electric engine to stay aloft. It has now run out of fuel, except for a small reserve to allow it to be directed away from inhabited parts of the planet's surface as it falls back down.
How big was it?
The satellite had a mass of one tonne - but it began disintegrating and burning up as it encountered Earth's atmosphere today. Sky News says scientists predicted that a piece about the size of a car engine could survive this fiery re-entry to impact on the planet - but would by then have broken into several smaller fragments, each weighing about 90kg.
Does this happen often?
At least one piece of 'space junk' re-enters the atmosphere every day - with one intact spacecraft or rocket body re-entering every week, on average. Most of the debris burns up as it enters the atmosphere. The ESA uses unmanned spacecraft called Automated Transfer Vehicles to re-supply the International Space Station. These perform controlled re-entries, targeted to enter over the oceans, and - again - mostly burning up on re-entry.
