3-ton Pallet tossed overboard from Space Station plunges towards earth
A nearly 3-ton Exposed Pallet leftover tossed overboard from a Space Station and plunging towards Earth is nearing its crash now.
The multi-ton Exposed Pallet 9 (EP9) was jettisoned from the international space station back in March 2021.
It was reported to be the most massive object ever tossed overboard from the International Space Station.
Disposing of used or unnecessary equipment in such a way is common practice aboard the space station, as the objects typically burn up harmlessly in Earth’s atmosphere.
Ahead of EP9’s reentry, the Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Relief, National Warning Center 1 in Bonn, Germany had issued a warning:
“Between midday on March 8 and midday on March 9, a larger space object is expected to re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere and possibly fragment,” the translated statement explains.
“The object is battery packs from the International Space Station (ISS). Luminous phenomena or the perception of a sonic boom are possible.”
The post from the warning center explains that “the probability of debris hitting Germany is considered to be very low. If the risk increases, you will receive new information.”
According to a social media post by astronomer Jonathan McDowell of the Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, the battery should reenter between 7:30 a.m. ET (1230 GMT) on March 9 and 3:30 a.m. ET (0830 UTC) on March 9.
Germany’s Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Relief issued a map showing possible tracks of reentry for the battery pallet.
Ahead of its expected re-entry, satellite tracker Marco Langbroek caught a glimpse of the battery as it passed over the Netherlands, posting a video of it to X (formerly Twitter).
