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After a remarkable life in orbit, Aeolus is out of fuel and out of time \u2013 it\u2019s returning to Earth this week. Planned and built before any regulations were put in place on \u2018end-of-life\u2019 disposal, the Earth Explorer was designed to naturally return through our atmosphere.<\/p>\n
After months of detailed planning and analysis, ESA together with industrial partners has designed a complex and never-before-performed set of manoeuvres to control, as much as possible, Aeolus\u2019 fall.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The assisted reentry attempt is built on four main phases, now begun at ESA\u2019s mission control:\u00a0<\/p>\n
In this animation, round regions temporarily lit up in bright green show the moments that Aeolus is in contact with antennas on Earth. It is in these periods that mission control is in touch with the satellite and can send up commands and get its data down.<\/p>\n
Aeolus is repeatedly turned, or \u2018slewed\u2019 by 180\u00b0 in order to switch from the routine orientation (or \u2018attitude\u2019), in which the satellite\u2019s \u2018X-band\u2019 antenna points toward Earth and the GPS can function to track the mission \u2013 crucial to maintaining knowledge of its position \u2013 and the \u2018retrograde\u2019 attitude.<\/p>\n
This second, \u2018upside down\u2019 position is necessary for the thrusters to fire in the opposite direction to Aeolus\u2019s flight direction, causing it to lose energy and lower in orbit.<\/p>\n
While the ultimate goal is for the spacecraft to burn up as it reenters through the atmosphere, teams need to keep it functioning long enough that they can continue to send up commands and control it on its path.<\/p>\n
After the final commands are sent, Aeolus will be \u2018passivated\u2019. Passivation is when any energy onboard a spacecraft is removed, for example, its propellant or batteries. Doing this prevents explosions and fragmentation events, that could cause the release of lots of pieces of unwanted space debris.<\/p>\n
For Aeolus, already out of fuel, it will simply be turned off. After this point, teams at mission control will continue to monitor the situation until Aeolus\u2019s ultimate reentry location is confirmed.<\/p>\n
For rolling updates on Aeolus’s reentry, follow \u2018Aeolus reentry: live\u2019<\/a> on the Rocket Science blog<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Credits:\u00a0ESA – Montserrat Pi\u00f1ol Sol\u00e9<\/p>\n Music: Yesterday\u2019s Hero by Steve Rothery, published by Tunecore. Used with permission of Steve Rothery.<\/p>\n