Defunct NASA Satellite Returns To Earth After 21 Years

A NASA satellite that observed solar flares and helped scientists understand the sun's powerful bursts of energy will fall to Earth this week, almost 21 years after it was launched. CNN reports: The retired Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI) spacecraft, which launched in 2002 and was decommissioned in 2018, is expected to reenter Earth's atmosphere Wednesday at approximately 9:30 p.m. ET, according to NASA. The spacecraft was equipped with an imaging spectrometer, which recorded the sun's X-rays and gamma rays. From its former perch in low-Earth orbit, the satellite captured images of high-energy electrons that carry a large part of the energy released in solar flares, NASA said.

Before RHESSI, no gamma-ray images or high-energy X-ray images had been taken of solar flares, and data from the spacecraft provided vital clues about the phenomena and their associated coronal mass ejections. [...] NASA said that the agency, along with the Department of Defense, would monitor the satellite's reentry into Earth's atmosphere.

Blah

[zshXx]

Defunct NASA Satellite crashed and burns in Earth's Atmosphere After 21 Years FTFY

Re:

[Black Parrot]

I saw the headline and thought it came back like V'Ger.

Where is all the outrage

[Growlley]

that it may land on some one in South Asia Africa etc. There was when there was the Possibility the Chinese Sat could land on US'ians?

Re:Where is all the outrage

[necro81]

that it may land on some one in South Asia Africa etc. There was when there was the Possibility the Chinese Sat could land on US'ians?

The Long March 5 upper stage is more than 20 tons [wikipedia.org]. This incoming satellite is 0.3 tons. [wikipedia.org]

Of those respective masses, the Long March has a number of very large and durable components, like the rocket engines themselves, that definitely survive reentry. By contrast, it is unknown whether any of this satellite will actually make it to the ground.

RHESSI was launched over 20 years ago, and its mission planned out years before that, at a time when concerns about space debris were somewhat less. RHESSI doesn't even have [nasa.gov] a propulsion system [nasa.gov]. The Long March 5 is a modern rocket, deployed in a way that deliberately thumbs its nose at best practices for avoiding uncontrolled reentry. China could, quite easily, reserve a modest amount of payload capacity for extra fuel, re-light the engines, and avoid all of the risk and criticism. The fact that they continue to basically say "fuck off" to the rest of the world shows you how much they care.

Re:

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:

[gosso920]

We are at war with Southasiaafrica. We have always been at war with Southasiaafrica.

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

Thank you for the input mr CCP mouthpiece.

Now go fuck yourself.

Scale

[Virtucon]

TFA:

Over the years, RHESSI documented the huge range in solar flare size, from tiny nanoflares to massive superflares that were tens of thousands of times bigger and more explosive.

"Nanoflares?" I don't consider anything our Sun does is nanoscale. It may be relatively small to some of its cousins but even a tiny flare is a big event.

Re:

[sonlas]

It may be relatively small to some of its cousins but even a tiny flare is a big event.

I am glad we don't get a /. story each time there is a nanoflare though.

Home is the Hangman

[Babel-17]

Might be a good excuse to re-read that one by Zelazny.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]

Plot summary
The protagonist of these stories is involved in the creation of a global computer network designed to give ultimate economic control by keeping track of all human activity. Just before the system goes live, the hero expresses his concerns about the possible misuse of such power to his superior, who gives the hero the chance to destroy his personal data before it is to be entered into the system. In taking this