Exclusive Footage Of Goce Satellite Plunges Back To Earth Nov 11 2013

European satellite burns up after plunging into Earth's atmosphere A 1-ton European science satellite plunged back into Earth's atmosphere with most of the spacecraft disintegrating high in the atmosphere. The spacecraft came down at approximately 00:16 UTC on November 11, 2013.

While most of the 1100 kg satellite disintegrated in the atmosphere, an estimated 25% reached Earth's surface, any possible GOCE remnants fell to the South Atlantic Ocean east of Tierra del Fuego.

The last contact by ground tracking stations with Europe's Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer, known as GOCE, was at 5:42 p.m. EST (2242 GMT) on Sunday as the spacecraft flew just 75 miles above Antarctica, the European Space Agency said.

Extrapolating from computer models, officials believe GOCE hit the upper atmosphere about 50 miles above the planet's surface no later than 7:16 p.m. EST Sunday (0016 GMT Monday) near the Falkland Islands.

"No damage to property has been reported from any debris," the report said.

GOCE was launched in 2009 to map variations in Earth's gravity. Scientists assembled the data into the first detailed global maps of the boundary between the planet's crust and mantle, among other projects.

The satellite ran out of fuel on October 21 and had been steadily losing altitude since, tugged by Earth's gravity.



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