The expected reentry of the cargo pallet into Earths atmosphere is between March 8 at 7:30 a.m.
ET and March 9 at 3:30 a.m.
ET, according to McDowell.
The pallet packed with old nickel-hydrogen batteries, photographed shortly after being released by the Canadarm2 robotic arm.Photo: NASA
The exact location of reentry is not known.
Japan’s HTV9 cargo ship visited ISS in May-Aug 2020.
It left behind, attached to ISS, a 2633 kg equipment pallet carrying 9 discarded Station batteries.
The external pallet being released by Canadarm2.Photo: NASA
The pallet was roughly 265 miles (427 kilometers) above Earths surface when it was released.
The pallets journey started with a mission to upgrade the ISSs power system.
These batteries store energy collected by the stations solar arrays.
The uncontrolled disposal of the pallet, however, was not part of the original plan.
This event led to a backlog in the disposal of such equipment.
However, in late 2018, an HTV departed without this battery pallet due to the rescheduled spacewalks.
Which brings us to the pending uncontrolled reentry.
For more spaceflight in your life, follow us onXand bookmark Gizmodos dedicatedSpaceflight page.
News from the future, delivered to your present.
