Smithsonian Magazine

A 1,300-Pound Spacecraft Might Be Plummeting Through Our Atmosphere Right Now

Over a decade ago, NASA launched two probes to investigate the Van Allen belts —two rings of high-energy particles that ...

NASA spacecraft to reenter uncontrolled, but human risk remains minimal

NASA says its 1,300‑pound Van Allen Probe A is making an uncontrolled reentry into Earth’s atmosphere. Most of the spacecraft is expected to burn up, but late‑stage design changes mean some debris ...

Reentry of NASA satellite will exceed the agency’s own risk guidelines

This reentry is notable because it poses a higher risk to the public than the US government typically allows. The risk of harm coming to anyone on Earth is still low, approximately 1 in 4,200, but it ...
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NASA spacecraft lands in the Pacific Ocean near the Galapagos Islands as it crashes back to Earth

An out-of-control NASA satellite has plunged back to Earth after more than 14 years in orbit. The 590-kilogram (1,300 lbs) Van Allen Probe A crashed down in the East Pacific Ocean near the Galapagos ...

New observations show the aftermath of a spacecraft intentionally colliding with an asteroid

The NASA DART spacecraft shifted the orbits of two asteroids around the sun after intentionally crashing into one of them.

NASA's DART spacecraft changed a binary asteroid's orbit around the sun, in a first for a human-made object

When NASA crashed a spacecraft into the asteroid moonlet Dimorphos in 2022, it altered both Dimorphos' orbit around its ...