The exact time the doomed 5,000-pound satellite will crash into Earth in six days is revealed

THE EUROPEAN Space Agency plans to crash a faulty satellite back to Earth.

The spacecraft is known as the European Remote Sensing 2 (ERS-2) satellite.

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It was launched into low Earth orbit in April 1995 and completed its mission to observe our planet in September 2011.

Together with its twin satellite ERS-1, the pair collected valuable data about Earth's land surface, oceans and polar ice caps.

It was also used to monitor natural disasters such as severe floods or earthquakes in remote parts of the world.

Now the ESA has announced the tentative date and time it thinks the return will take place.

Based on data from Monday, the ESA calculates that the crash into Earth will occur on February 19 at 5:26 PM ET.

The ESA noted that the margin of error in this forecast is just over 1.5 days – or plus or minus 38 hours.

This is mainly due to the influence of unpredictable solar activity, “which affects the density of the Earth's atmosphere and therefore the drag experienced by the satellite,” the space agency added.

Preparations for the end of ERS-2 began in the summer of 2011, when the ESA performed 66 reorbiting maneuvers on it. Living Science.

That process was intended to use up the satellite's remaining fuel and reduce its average altitude from 700 kilometers to about 560 kilometers.

This helps reduce the risk of collisions with other satellites or space debris.

This process also causes the satellite's orbit to deteriorate quickly enough that it can reenter Earth's atmosphere within 15 years.

According to the ESA, the ERS-2 was “the most advanced Earth observation spacecraft ever developed and launched by Europe.”

When it left Earth it weighed 5,547 pounds; now, without fuel, the weight is about 5,057 pounds.