On November 10, 2013, Europe's GOCE satellite fell to Earth.
GOCE is short for Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer. Its mission was to map Earth's gravitational field. GOCE did this for four years. Then it ran out of fuel. Controllers weren't sure where it would fall back to Earth or linger in orbit. Some people worried that GOCE might crash into a populated area. However, the small spacecraft broke up in the atmosphere and didn't cause any property damage. It disintegrated about 50 miles above the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic Ocean. The European Space Agency called the mission a success. GOCE lasted far longer than expected. It showed small variations in Earth's gravity, mapped the structure of Earth's crust and mantle, and tracked ocean currents.
GOCE is short for Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer. Its mission was to map Earth's gravitational field. GOCE did this for four years. Then it ran out of fuel. Controllers weren't sure where it would fall back to Earth or linger in orbit. Some people worried that GOCE might crash into a populated area. However, the small spacecraft broke up in the atmosphere and didn't cause any property damage. It disintegrated about 50 miles above the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic Ocean. The European Space Agency called the mission a success. GOCE lasted far longer than expected. It showed small variations in Earth's gravity, mapped the structure of Earth's crust and mantle, and tracked ocean currents.
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TechTranscript
00:00On this day in space.
00:03On November 10th, 2013, Europe's GOCE satellite fell to Earth.
00:08GOCE is short for Gravity Field and Steady State Ocean Circulation Explorer.
00:13Its mission was to map Earth's gravitational field.
00:16GOCE did this for four years. Then it ran out of fuel.
00:19Controllers weren't sure if it would fall back to Earth or linger in orbit.
00:23Some people worried that GOCE might crash into a populated area.
00:27However, the small spacecraft broke up in the atmosphere and didn't cause any property damage.
00:32It disintegrated about 50 miles above the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic Ocean.
00:37The European Space Agency called the mission a success.
00:40It showed variations in Earth's gravity, mapped the structure of Earth's crust and mantle, and tracked ocean currents.
00:46GOCE even lasted far longer than expected.
00:49And that's what happened on this day in space.
00:52NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology