After nearly 40 years circling Earth, a retired NASA science satellite has harmlessly plunged through the atmosphere off the coast of Alaska, NASA announced Monday.
The Department of Defense confirmed that the satellite put into orbit in 1984 by astronaut Sally Ride returned late Sunday night over the Bering Sea, several hundred miles from Alaska. NASA said it had received no reports of injuries or damage from the falling debris.
Late last week, NASA said it expected most of the 5,400-pound (2,450-kilogram) Earth-budget radiation satellite to burn up in the atmosphere, but that some pieces might survive. The space agency estimated the odds of falling debris injuring someone at 1 in 9,400.
The space shuttle Challenger launched a satellite into orbit and the first American woman in space rescued it. The satellite measured atmospheric ozone and studied how Earth absorbed and radiated energy from the Sun before it was decommissioned in 2005, well beyond its expected lifespan.
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