NASA Satellite Falls Out of Space, Burns Up Over Tropics

A dead NASA satellite plunged out of space today and burned up in the Earth's atmosphere over the South Indian Ocean, ending a nearly two-decade mission studying the planet's rainfall. The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite, or TRMM, fell from orbit at 2:54 a.m. EDT (0654 GMT) as it was streaking over the tropical region of the South Indian Ocean, NASA officials wrote in an update. The satellite, a joint mission by NASA and Japan's space agency, launched in 1997 to map Earth's rainfall for weather and climate scientists. NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency shut the TRMM satellite down in April in anticipation of the spacecraft's fall from space. More

(Source: Space.com - Jun 17)