NASA has announced that a retired solar imaging spacecraft called the Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI) is expected to reenter the Earth’s atmosphere on Wednesday night. The Defense Department predicts that some parts of the 660-pound spacecraft will survive the reentry and strike Earth. NASA has stated that the risk of harm to anyone on Earth is low at approximately 1 in 2,467. RHESSI was launched in 2002 to explore the basic physics of particle acceleration and explosive energy releases in solar flares. The spacecraft’s work enabled scientists to learn more about the underlying physics of how … Continue reading Retired Solar Imaging Spacecraft RHESSI Predicted to Strike Earth: What We Know