A dramatic aircraft chase of a falling spacecraft has provided new insights into the fiery processes that accompany the atmospheric demise of retired satellites.
The measurements will help scientists better understand how satellite air pollution affects Earth’s atmosphere.
In early September last year, a team of European scientists boarded a rented business jet on Easter Island to trace the atmospheric reentry of Salsa, one of the European Space Agency’s ESA four identical Cluster satellites.
The aircraft was fitted with 26 cameras to capture the brief occurrence in different wavelengths of light.
The first results from the unique observation campaign were released in early April at the European Conference on Space Debris in Bonn, Germany.
The satellite burn up, a meteor like event lasting less than 50 seconds, took place above the Pacific Ocean shortly before noon local time on Sept. 8, 2024.
Bright daylight complicated the observations and prevented the use of more powerful instruments, which would have provided more detailed views.
Still, the team managed to gain new insights into satellite incineration, something that is little understood and hard to study.
Source: https://www.space.com/space-exploration/satellites/scientists-chased-a-falling-spacecraft-with-a-plane-to-understand-satellite-air-pollution
