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Aeolus<\/a>\u2019s mission is over, but weather forecasting is improved forever, and a new precedent has been set for safe satellite reentries. The trailblazing Earth Explorer<\/a> returned through our atmosphere on 28 July, following the path it was guided on by ESA\u2019s mission control<\/a> over Earth\u2019s most uninhabited regions, finally disintegrating over the Antarctic.\u00a0<\/p>\n A week-long series of manoeuvres led to this point. They had never been performed before and pushed the satellite to its limits. Aeolus was never designed to fly at such low altitudes \u2013 its thrusters and fuel reserves were not made to operate in the thick lower reaches of Earth\u2019s atmosphere.\u00a0<\/p>\n Despite choppy skies and one evening where it seemed the attempt could fail, the successful reentry lowered the already small risk of surviving fragments landing where they shouldn\u2019t.\u00a0<\/p>\n The chance of satellite debris falling on your head is three times less than a meteorite doing the same. Despite this, as our orbital highways get busier and reentries become more common, ESA went above and beyond<\/a> to lower this even further.\u00a0<\/p>\n By turning Aeolus\u2019s original fate \u2013 an uncontrolled, \u2018natural\u2019 reentry \u2013 into an assisted one, they reduced that risk another 42 times.\u00a0<\/p>\n This animation shows how the final moments for Aeolus could have gone, set to a sonification of Aeolus data<\/a>, composed by Jamie Perera.\u00a0<\/p>\n Find out more about Aeolus\u2019s final moments in the Rocket Science blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n