The European Space Agency (ESA) began maneuvers this Monday to return to Earth the Aeolus satellite, which studied the planet’s winds with Portuguese technology but was declared “dead” on Friday as debris fell into the Atlantic.
The satellite, launched into Earth orbit in 2018, has been operating for five years, two more than originally scheduled, to help experts improve climate models and weather forecasts.
This is the first time that ESA has performed an assisted re-entry of a decommissioned satellite.
What’s left of the Aeolus fuel, whose components are produced by Portuguese companies, is being used to re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere.
When Aeolus is 80 kilometers from the Earth’s surface, most of the satellite will light up, although some fragments may reach the planet.
ESA, of which Portugal is a member, guarantees that the risk of a piece of space debris hitting a person is almost three times lower than the risk of a meteorite falling.
The return of Aeolus (or what is left of it) to Earth should be completed on Friday after a team from the ESA Space Operations Center in Germany pointed the device to the farthest region of the Atlantic Ocean from land.
The satellite is named after the guardian of the winds in Greek mythology (Aeolus in English, Aeolus in Portuguese).
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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