The device fell a few hundred kilometers from Alaska and at the moment it is unknown if there are injuries or material damage.
After almost 40 years circling Earth, a retired NASA satellite harmlessly passed through the atmosphere and landed off the coast of Alaska, the space agency reported.
The Department of Defense confirmed that the satellite (put into orbit in 1984 by astronaut Sally Ride) re-entered the planet late Sunday night over the Bering Sea, a few hundred kilometers from Alaska. NASA said it has received no reports of injured or damaged by falling debris.
Weighs 2,450 kilos
Late last week, NASA said it expected most of the satellite to 2.450 kilos burned up in the atmosphere, but that some pieces might survive. According to the space agency, the odds of falling debris injuring someone were 1 in 9,400.
The space shuttle Challenger put the satellite into orbit and the first American woman in space released it. The satelite measured ozone in the atmosphere and studied how the Earth absorbed and radiated energy from the sun, before being retired in 2005, well beyond its expected lifespan.
PA agency.
GML