A satellite that looks like a Star Wars fighter is expected to crash into Earth next week, but scientists don’t know where it will land.
The UK Space Agency said on Friday that they are on alert ahead of impact and have been working with satellite tracking company HEO to observe the rogue satellite.
Scientists say they have no idea where the European Remote Sensing Satellite 2 (ERS-2) will land.
The latest assumption shared by ESA (European Space Agency) about its runaway satellite re-entering the atmosphere is Wednesday (February 21) at 12:10 p.m.
However, that accident prediction has a margin of error of about 27 hours on both sides.
A satellite that looks like a Star Wars Tie fighter is expected to crash into Earth next week, but scientists don’t know where it will land.
The UK Space Agency said on Friday that they are on alert ahead of impact and have been working with satellite tracking company HEO to observe the rogue satellite.
Artist’s illustration of European Remote Sensing 2
The images captured from space by HEO, an Australian company with an office in the United Kingdom, were taken by other satellites between January 14 and February 3 and show ERS-2 as it rotates on its return journey to Earth .
The UK agency says they have been shared with ESA to help track ERS-2 re-entry.
The Space Agency said in last night’s update that they operate “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 service scans for incoming threats and can issue a warning if a potential emergency arises.
The UK Space Agency says of the re-entry service: “Our orbital analysts use state-of-the-art models developed in the UK to monitor re-entry objects and produce re-entry warnings if it is a UK-licensed re-entry object. or whether the United Kingdom or our overseas territories/crown dependencies could be affected.
‘These warnings are distributed to UK civil protection authorities as well as foreign government departments.
Looking like an incoming Star Wars Tie Fighter spaceship, this is the satellite doomed to crash into Earth. Artist’s illustration
The satellite has been compared in appearance to a Star Wars fighter plane.
“Our reentry service, along with our in-orbit collision and fragmentation service (known as our space tracking and surveillance service) operates 365 days a year.”
Angus Stewart, Head of Space Surveillance and Tracking at the UK Space Agency, said: “There are thousands of operational and decommissioned satellites in orbit around the Earth, and the ability to operate safely in space and bring their benefits to the Earth is growing more and more. 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 with observing 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 re-entries.”
HEO said: ‘The goal is to understand how extraterrestrial imaging can improve re-entry predictions by reducing uncertainties about object re-entry, as well as better understanding the nature of re-entering 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 UK scientists and engineers from organizations including Astrium (now Airbus), Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Oxford University, Mullard Space Sciences Laboratory and the Met Office were involved in the design , the construction and scientific instruments of the doomed satellite.
ESA describes the re-entry of ERS-2 as “natural” as it is no longer possible to control the satellite.
The only force causing ERS-2’s orbit to disintegrate is atmospheric drag, which is influenced by unpredictable solar activity.