Van Allen Probe A to re-enter and mostly burn up

A 1,323-pound satellite that has orbited Earth for nearly 14 years is expected to re-enter the atmosphere on Tuesday. NASA said most of the Van Allen Probe A will incinerate as it descends, though some components are likely to survive; the agency put the risk of harm to anyone on the ground at about 1 in 4,200.

The U.S. Space Force projects re-entry at about 7:45 p.m. Eastern time, give or take 24 hours, while the Aerospace Corporation predicted 11:41 p.m. Eastern, give or take three hours. A NASA spokeswoman said the agency had no immediate update, and the Space Force did not respond to requests for comment.

Jonathan McDowell, a retired astrophysicist, said the probe's elliptical descent and its roughly 17,000-mile-per-hour re-entry make it impossible to predict where any surviving fragments might land. 'For the average person, it will be a nice light in the sky if you get lucky and, otherwise, don't worry about it,' he said.

United States

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