NASA spacecraft makes an uncontrolled plunge back to Earth
https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/10/science/nasa-van-allen-spacecraft-earth-reentry?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=missions&utm_source=reddit
NASA spacecraft makes an uncontrolled plunge back to Earth
https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/10/science/nasa-van-allen-spacecraft-earth-reentry?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=missions&utm_source=reddit
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A large space probe [plummeted into Earth’s atmosphere early Wednesday](https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/10/science/nasa-van-allen-spacecraft-earth-reentry?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=missions&utm_source=reddit) — years earlier than expected. And while most of the spacecraft was expected to disintegrate in a flaming blaze during reentry, a few components could have survived, according to NASA.
The odds that a piece of debris would cause harm to a person were estimated to be about about 1 in 4,200, the space agency said in a news release.
That’s a low chance, according to NASA, and more favorable odds than those of space debris incidents of years past.
>The probe plunged out of orbit and into Earth’s atmosphere at 6:37 a.m. ET Wednesday near the equatorial Pacific, south of Mexico and west of Equador, according to astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell, citing US Space Force data, and NASA.
NASA will treat debris surviving reentry the same way they treated 30 years of their space shuttle program: ignore all the warning signs until somebody dies.