Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) satellite re-entered and burned up in Earth's atmosphere."/>
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A Pioneering NASA Satellite Just Fell to Earth After 2 Decades in Space


A Pioneering NASA Satellite Just Fell to Earth After 2 Decades in Space On April 30, after more than 20 years in space, NASA's Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) satellite re-entered and burned up in Earth's atmosphere. Decommissioned in 2012, the instrument spent its lifetime probing the environments of black holes and neutron stars in X-ray wavelengths, revealing new insight into these dense gravitational objects. "Observing these X-ray phenomena with precise high-resolution timing was RXTE's specialty," Jean Swank, an astrophysicist emeritus at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, who served as the mission's project scientist until 2010, said in a statement. "During RXTE's run, no other observatory could provide these measurements."   More



(Source: Space.com - May 16)

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