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GOCE Spacecraft Will Likely Make Uncontrolled Re-entry This Weekend
Artist rendition of the GOCE Satellite in orbit. Credit: ESA
The Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) satellite has been orbiting Earth in super-low orbits since 2009, mapping out variations in Earth’s gravity in extreme detail. But its fuel ran out in mid-October and the satellite began its slow descent towards Earth, being brought lower and lower by the effects of the atmosphere. Engineers predict it will re-enter completely and fall back to Earth sometime this weekend.
But no one can say for sure when or where the 1-ton satellite will fall.
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Read the rest of GOCE Spacecraft Will Likely Make Uncontrolled Re-entry This Weekend (400 words)
© nancy for Universe Today, 2013. |
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Post tags: GOCE, re-entry, Satellites
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Source: http://www.universetoday.com/106284/goce-spacecraft-will-likely-make-uncontrolled-re-entry-this-weekend/
