After nearly four decades in space, NASA’s Earth Radiation Budget Satellite (ERBS) is about to fall from the sky. On Friday, the agency said the likelihood of ERBS debris harming anyone on Earth is “very low.” NASA expects most of the 5,400-pound satellite to burn up on re-entry. Earlier this week, the Department of Defense predicted that the ERBS would re-enter Earth’s atmosphere Sunday at 6:40 p.m. ET, roughly 5 p.m.
Although it may be a household name, the Earth’s radiation budget satellite did not have a dull history. According to Phys.org, the space shuttle Challenger carried the satellite into space in 1984, just over a year before Challenger’s heartbreaking demise in early 1986. Astronaut Sally Ride, the first woman American spaceflight, released ERBS from Challenger’s hold. using the spaceship’s robotic arm. During that same mission, Ride’s crewmate, Kathryn Sullivan, became the first American woman to perform a spacewalk. It was also the first mission to see two female astronauts fly in space together. As for ERBS, it collected ozone and atmospheric measurements until 2005. Scientists used this data to study how the Earth absorbs and radiates solar energy. ERBS’s contribution to science is even more impressive when you consider that NASA initially expected it to remain functional for only two years.