A NASA satellite has touched back down on Earth after 14 years in orbit. Van Allen Probe A re-entered on Wednesday, the U.S. Space Force confirmed. NASA said it entered the Pacific Ocean region, marking the end of a mission that began in 2012 to measure Earth’s radiation belts. The 1,300-pound spacecraft and its sister, Van Allen Probe B, gathered data on how particles in the belts—which protect us from cosmic radiation, solar storms, and solar wind—move around. The pair’s mission had been due to last for two years, but ended up going on for seven, ending in 2019 when it ran out of fuel and could no longer orient toward the Sun. It was thought that the probe would re-enter in 2034, but solar storms have brought it back to Earth sooner than they expected. It was expected that most of the probe would break up on re-entry to the Earth’s atmosphere, although NASA previously admitted that there was a 1 in 4,200 chance that someone could be hurt.
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