Doomed satellite that looks like a Star Wars Tie Fighter is set to crash into the Earth next week – and scientists don’t know exactly where it will land
A satellite that looks like a Star Wars fighter plane is expected to crash into Earth next week, but scientists don’t know where it will land.
The UK Space Agency said on Friday it is alert to the impact and has worked with satellite tracking company HEO to observe the rogue satellite.
Scientists say they have no idea where the European Remote Sensing 2 (ERS-2) satellite will land.
The latest estimate shared by ESA (European Space Agency) on the return of their out-of-control satellite to the atmosphere is Wednesday (February 21) at 12:10 p.m.
However, this crash prediction has a margin of error of about 27 hours either side.
A satellite that looks like a Star Wars plane is expected to crash into Earth next week, but scientists don’t know where it will land
The UK Space Agency said Friday it is alert to the impact and is working with satellite tracking company HEO to observe the rogue satellite.
Artistic illustration of the European Remote Sensing 2
The images taken from space by HEO, an Australian company with an office in Britain, were taken by other satellites between January 14 and February 3 and show ERS-2 as it rotates on its journey back to Earth.
The British agency says they have been shared with ESA to help track the return of ERS-2.
The Space Agency said in last night’s update that they are “operating the UK Re-Entry Warning Service and have tasked our UK sensors to observe the re-entry of ERS-2.”
The government’s Space Debris Reentry Agency scans for incoming threats and can issue an alert if a potential emergency arises.
The UK Space Agency says of the re-entry service: ‘Our orbital analysts use British-developed state-of-the-art models to monitor returning objects and provide alerts if it is a UK-licensed object that re-enters. or if Britain or our Overseas Territories/Crown Dependencies could be affected.
‘These warnings are being distributed to civil defense authorities in Britain and government departments overseas.
This looks like an incoming Star Wars Tie Fighter spacecraft and is the doomed satellite that will crash into Earth. Artist illustration
The satellite has been compared in appearance to a Star Wars fighter plane
“Our re-entry service, in addition to our in-space collision and fragmentation service (known as our Space Surveillance and Tracking service), runs 365 days a year.”
Angus Stewart, Head of Space Surveillance and Tracking at the UK Space Agency, said: ‘There are thousands of operational and defunct satellites in orbit around the Earth, and the ability to operate safely in space and bring back the benefits to the earth is getting bigger and bigger. challenging.’
‘In addition to capturing these images as part of our work with HEO, the UK Space Agency operates the UK Re-Entry Warning Service and has tasked our UK sensors to observe the re-entry of ERS-2.
‘We share data with ESA and other international partners through the Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee (IADC) and other forums to support satellite reentry.’
HEO said: ‘The goal is to understand how non-terrestrial images can improve return-to-Earth predictions by reducing uncertainties about the re-entering object, and to better understand the nature of returning objects.
“This is especially important for uncontrolled or poorly characterized objects, such as large space debris objects that may no longer be intact.”
The UK Space Agency says British scientists and engineers from organizations including Astrium (now Airbus), the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Oxford University, the Mullard Space Science Laboratory and the Met Office were involved in the design, construction and scientific instruments of the doomed satellite.
ESA describes the return of ERS-2 as ‘natural’ because it is no longer possible to control the satellite.
The only force causing ERS-2’s orbit to decay is atmospheric drag, which is influenced by unpredictable solar activity.