NASA confirms harmless Earth return of decades-old satellite

BERING SEA – NASA on Monday said it’s defunct Earth Radiation Budget Satellite — or ERBS — reentered Earth’s atmosphere late Sunday night, with most of the object burning up over the Bering Sea and remnants causing no known harm.

 The 5,400-pound satellite was launched from the Space Shuttle Challenger in 1984 to help measure stratospheric ozone, water vapor, nitrogen dioxide, and aerosols and to investigate how the Earth absorbed and radiated energy from the Sun.

Though it was only expected to operate for two years, ERBS stayed active until 2005, when it was retired. It’s eventual return to Earth was anticipated.