Satellite about falling back onto Earth but...where will it fall?

A 2,000-pound European satellite burned up as it re-entered Earth's atmosphere early Monday, controllers reported.

Re-entry was made close to 1 a.m. Monday (7 p.m. ET), the European Space Agency said.

"As expected, the satellite disintegrated in the high atmosphere and no damage to property has been reported," the space agency said.

The Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Explorer -- a European Space Agency satellite known shorthand as GOCE -- crossed over Siberia, the western Pacific Ocean, the eastern Indian Ocean and Antarctica upon its re-entry.

The 5-meter (16-foot) satellite was launched in 2009 to map variations in the Earth's gravity in 3-D, provide ocean circulation patterns and make other measurements.

Powered by solar panels and not-your-average lithium-ion battery, it lasted more than three times its expected lifespan before running out of juice on October 21.

In March 2011, the ESA added another role -- as the "first seismometer in orbit" -- when GOCE detected sound waves from the massive earthquake that struck Japan.


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