GOCE satellite is about to fall to earth

A European satellite promises to soon become the latest 'victim' of earth attraction, and the danger level of this free fall has not been fully assessed.

The satellite used to map the Earth's gravity, abbreviated GOCE, of the European Space Agency (ESA), is nearly running out of fuel and will fall freely toward Earth this month, after more than 4 The study of the gravitational field of the green planet. It was launched in 2009 to orbit in sync with the sun, maintaining orbits almost circular in the polar region. If calculated based on current prices, this mission costs about 475 million USD, including launch equipment and operating costs. Satellite GOCE weighs 1.2 tons, equipped with ion engine using xenon fuel, and operates in low orbit 224km from the earth. Expected, GOCE will run out of fuel in the middle or end of October, and then about 2 to 3 weeks, it will fall straight to the ground. When it falls in such a state of loss of control, some parts of the satellite are more likely to escape the fireball while friction with the earth's atmosphere and ground. However, the timing and grounding position of these cosmic trash pieces has not yet been calculated.

GOCE has completed its mission and is about to fall back to earth - (Photo: AOES Medialab)

Closer to the time of the satellite's joint statement, the area will catch the rest of GOCE to be narrowed down. According to ESA estimates, up to 40 to 50 pieces of GOCE (total weight about 250kg) can 'survive' after a terrible fall. European experts hope that with two-thirds of the earth's surface covered by oceans, and many areas with thinly spread populations, the risk of human and human losses may be low. However, this does not stop the concern of the media, the world public opinion. The same situation occurred during the uncontrolled free fall of satellite garbage a few years ago, from NASA UARS, German ROSAT in 2011, and then the Phobos-Grunt spacecraft after the failed mission. lost in March 2012.

A global campaign of astronomical groups will follow the direction of the upcoming movement of GOCE, with the participation of 12 members of the Cosmological Coordination Committee between organizations (IADC). Meanwhile, ESA's Space Junk Office will publish predictions and risk assessments of the impact if any of GOCE during the fall for stakeholders. European experts use the tool as a SCARAB computer model device to calculate which parts of GOCE are most likely to land. It is possible that the fuel tank and magnetic torque bar (the height and stability control system for satellites), and the rest are unclear in shape.

Space.com quoted the mission director Christoph Steiger as saying that once GOCE ran out of fuel, its orbit would begin to collapse. However, it is unclear when it will run out of fuel, but may be as early as October 19 or 20. In recent years, ESA experts are very pleased with the amount of data collected via satellite GOCE. The uptime was longer than originally planned for 20 months, thanks to the sun's sluggish activity in recent years, according to expert Steiger. Sometimes GOCE is lowered from 255km to a very low level of 224km, thus providing accurate data for the map of earth's gravity distribution.