First of Two Van Allen Probes Spacecraft Ceases Operations

On July 19, 2019, at 1:27 p.m. EDT, mission operators sent a shutdown command to one of two Van Allen Probes spacecraft, known as spacecraft B, from the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab, or APL, in Laurel, Maryland.

As expected, following final de-orbit maneuvers in February of this year, the spacecraft has used its remaining propellant to keep its solar panels pointed at the Sun and is now out of fuel. Since it depends on the Sun to provide power to the instruments, and can no longer orient itself to acquire power, the spacecraft has been turned off.

The spacecraft is in a stable, circular orbit around Earth and, in about 15 years, will re-enter the atmosphere and burn up safely. The de-orbit maneuvers in February were designed to ensure this would happen and prevent the spacecraft from becoming "space junk" in orbit.

The other Van Allen Probes spacecraft, spacecraft A, is expected to operate normally until early September.

Originally slated for a two-year mission, the Van Allen Probes launched on Aug. 30, 2012, and have gathered unprecedented data on Earth's two radiation belts - named for scientist James Van Allen - for nearly seven years.

The Van Allen Probes were the first spacecraft designed to operate and gather scientific data for many years within the belts, a region around our planet that most spacecraft and astronaut missions try to minimize time in to avoid the damaging radiation.

Before the Van Allen Probes, the most recent radiation belt-focused mission was the Combined Release and Radiation Effects Satellite, or CRRES, mission that operated from July 1990 to October 1991.

The mission has made several major discoveries about how the radiation belts operate, including data showing, for the first time, the existence of a third radiation belt.

"Seven years is a very long time," said Sasha Ukhorskiy, Van Allen Probes project scientist at APL. "People who came onto this mission as students and post-docs are now well into their careers. We've raised a new generation of scientists. It's a great legacy for the Van Allen Probes."

Related Links
Van Allen Probes
Space Technology News - Applications and Research

Tweet

Thanks for being there;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.

SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5+ Billed Monthly

paypal only

SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once

credit card or paypal

Radiation levels at Marshall Islands test sites 10 times greater than Chernobyl
Washington (UPI) Jul 16, 2019
More than a half-century after the United States government ended nuclear tests on the Marshall Islands, radiation levels are still dangerously high. According to a new study, radiation levels at some test sites are 10 times greater than those at Chernobyl. In the 1940s and '50s, federal officials forcibly removed inhabitants from several of the Marshall Islands, a collection of coral atolls in the Pacific, to make way for nuclear testing. Between 1946 and 1958, the U.S. government conducted 67 ... read more