"When the 600-kilogram Van Allen Probe A reenters Earth's atmosphere, it will largely burn up, but there are some parts that NASA expects to survive the journey, the agency announced on Monday. The exact timing of the event is unclear: the space agency says the 7:45 P.M. EDT estimate has a window of uncertainty of plus or minus 24 hours."
"The probe is one of two sister spacecraft that were launched in 2012 to study the Van Allen belts—bands of protons and electrons that cocoon Earth and protect our planet from harmful space weather and radiation. The mission ended in 2019 when the probes ran out of fuel."
"The spacecraft's orbit is highly elliptical, so its exact reentry time is still very uncertain, says Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist who tracks satellites and space launches. Based on latest Space Force data, it might already be down, or it might not be down until late Wednesday night."
NASA's Van Allen Probe A, a 600-kilogram spacecraft launched in 2012 to study Earth's protective Van Allen radiation belts, is reentering Earth's atmosphere. The reentry is expected around 7:45 P.M. EDT with an uncertainty window of plus or minus 24 hours. While most of the spacecraft will burn up during reentry, some debris is expected to survive. NASA estimates a one-in-4,200 risk of harm to people from potential debris. The probe's highly elliptical orbit makes precise reentry timing difficult to predict. The spacecraft was part of a twin mission that studied the Van Allen belts—bands of protons and electrons protecting Earth from harmful space radiation—until the mission ended in 2019 when fuel ran out.
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