NASA's 270kg RHESSI observatory hits Earth this week

Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI), an observatory for studying solar flares, is set to fall to Earth this week. The spacecraft weighs more than 270kg.

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The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) sent RHESSI in 2002 to study the Sun. The satellite served its purpose until 2018, after which the space agency decommissioned it.

RHESSI is expected to enter Earth's atmosphere on April 19 at 22:30 (EDT) or 19:30 (PDT). Scientists from NASA believe that most of the spacecraft will not survive its return to our planet and will burn up in the atmosphere. The risk of damage is 1 in 2467.

270kg only at first glance seems like a lot of weight for a spacecraft returning to Earth. At the end of last autumn, for instance, the stage of a Chinese rocket that sent the final module for China's space station into space fell. Its weight was 21 tonnes.

Source: space