The agency said in a statement<\/a>, however, that \u201csome components are expected to survive re-entry.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe risk of harm coming to anyone on Earth is low \u2014 approximately 1 in 4,200,\u201d NASA said. \u201cNASA and Space Force will continue to monitor the re-entry and update predictions.<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s not uncommon for out-of-commission satellites, spent rocket parts and smaller bits of space debris to fall back to Earth. In fact, these types of objects re-enter the planet\u2019s atmosphere on an almost daily basis, according to the European Space Agency<\/a>.<\/p>\n In most cases, the hardware burns up harmlessly in the atmosphere, but occasionally some parts can make it through. Even in those instances, it\u2019s rare for space debris to fall over land and cause damage because oceans cover around 71% of Earth\u2019s surface.<\/p>\n Accurate predictions of when and where an uncontrolled spacecraft will fall back to Earth can be difficult to make because the process is influenced by atmospheric dynamics, space weather and the probe\u2019s positioning as its orbit degrades. The Space Force\u2019s predictions for the Van Allen Probe A\u2019s re-entry timing include an uncertainty of plus or minus 24 hours.<\/p>\n The Van Allen Probe A \u2014 along with its twin, the Van Allen Probe B \u2014 launched into space on Aug. 30, 2012. The pair was designed to fly through and study rings of high-energy radiation particles that are trapped by Earth\u2019s magnetic field. These enormous, doughnut-shaped zones make up the planet\u2019s permanent radiation belts, called the Van Allen belts.<\/p>\n The Van Allen belts shield Earth from solar storms, cosmic radiation and constant waves of charged particles known as solar wind<\/a>. Without them, high-energy radiation particles from the sun could bombard satellites in orbit, damage human health and knock out power grids on the ground. But astronauts must fly through the Van Allen belts to reach outer space, which exposes them to harmful radiation.<\/p>\n The Van Allen Probe A and Van Allen Probe B were developed to better understand the belts and how they came to be. The mission made numerous discoveries about the features and composition of radiation belts<\/a> and even uncovered a \u201ctransient\u201d third radiation belt that can form during periods of intense solar activity.<\/p>\n The twin probes operated until 2019, when they ran out of fuel. NASA ended the mission after that, and they have been languishing in orbit ever since. <\/p>\n Originally, NASA thought the two probes would re-enter Earth\u2019s atmosphere in 2034, but higher-than-normal solar activity in recent years has increased atmospheric drag on the probes. When the sun is more active and releases more energy, it increases density in parts of the atmosphere, which can slow satellites or degrade their orbits.<\/p>\n The Van Allen Probe B, however, is not expected to re-enter Earth\u2019s atmosphere before 2030.<\/p>\n![\"Van](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/260310-Van-Allen-Probes-Discover-New-Radiation-Belt-ew-354p-f7167f.jpg\")
The three doughnut-shaped radiation belts around Earth.NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center\/Johns Hopkins University, Applied Physics Laboratory<\/p>\n