Satellite debris splashed into the Barents Sea
A NASA satellite was on purpose crash-landed into the Barents Sea early Monday morning,
The seven year old ICESat (Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation satellite) has been observing and measuring the ice-sheet topography in the Arctic and Antarctica.
After its primary instrument failed in February 2010, NASA has been preparing for the satellite’s return to orbit. The decommissioning started in June and NASA’s flight controllers began lowering the satellite on June 23rd.
The decommissioning was successfully ended on August 14, and the atmospheric drag lowered the remains of the satellite until it landed in the Barents Sea on August 30th, reports redOrbit, a monitoring portal for space and satellite news.
NASA says they will launch another ice monitoring satellite in 2015.
