Van Allen Probes prepare for 15-year plunge into the Earth's atmosphere

In a remarkable display of forethought, the Van Allen Probes have been set on a trajectory that will plunge the two radiation belt satellites into the Earth's atmosphere in about 15 years. In order to keep the pair of spacecraft from becoming a hazard to navigation, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), which designed and built the pair, put them through a series of thruster maneuvers in February that will place them in ever-tightening orbits ending around 2034.

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Category: Space

Tags:

• John Hopkins University
• NASA
• Spacecraft
• Van Allen Belts

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