A 660-pound NASA spacecraft is hours away from crashing into Earth after more than a decade studying the sun.
Most of RHESSI will"burn up" as it crashes its way through the atmosphere, the agency said,"but some components are expected to survive entry."
It's unlikely, however, that any of the falling pieces will cause an issue for people on Earth. NASA said the risk of harm is"low – approximately 1 in 2,467." and at the time, was the only observatory providing imaging spectroscopy of the electrons in solar flares. According to NASA, it has the"finest angular and the spectral resolution of any hard X-ray or gamma-ray instrument ever flown in space.
"As with any re-entry, we expect that visual observations of the fireball will be possible for a very lucky observer," researchers ."Ideally one would have clear skies, a dark night, and the great luck of having ... just the right moment along the orbital track."
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