38 years after its death, NASA satellite returns to earth

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced that the retired Earth Radiation Budget Satellite (ERBS) had reentered Earth’s atmosphere after nearly four decades in space.

During its 21-year orbit, the ERBS actively examined how the Earth absorbed and radiated solar energy, as well as measured stratospheric ozone, water vapor, nitrogen dioxide, and aerosols.

The 5400-pound satellite reentered the atmosphere above the Bering Sea.

NASA anticipated that the majority of the satellite would burn up as it went through the atmosphere, but that certain components would survive reentry.

The ERBS spacecraft was launched from the Space Shuttle Challenger on October 5, 1984, as part of NASA’s three-satellite Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE) mission.

It was equipped with three instruments: two for measuring the Earth’s radiative energy budget and one for measuring stratospheric components such as ozone.

ERBS outlasted its projected two-year lifespan, operating until its retirement in 2005. 

Its findings aided researchers in determining the consequences of human activity on the Earth’s radiation balance, explained the aeronautics administration.

NASA has built on the ERBE mission’s success with initiatives such as the current Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES) suite of satellite instruments.