A decommissioned NASA satellite will re-enter Earth's atmosphere, 38 years after it was launched into space.
NASA said Friday that the chances of the wreckage falling in a populated area and injuring anyone were "very low." Most of the 2.5-ton satellite will burn up when it re-enters the atmosphere, according to NASA. But some pieces are expected to hold up and fall to the ground, according to the Associated Press.
The space agency has determined that the odds of a person being injured by satellite debris are 1 in 9,400.
The satellite is expected to re-enter the atmosphere on Sunday at around 6:40 pm EST (Monday, 1:30 Romania time), according to the US Department of Defense.
But California-based Aerospace Corp. still expects the satellite to re-enter the atmosphere Monday morning, with a trajectory that passes over Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and western parts of North and South America.
The ERBS (Earth Radiation Budget Satellite) was launched 1984 years ago aboard the space shuttle Challenger.
Although its life expectancy was two years, it continued to make measurements of ozone and other atmospheric phenomena until its retirement in 2005.
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