Satellite Gets Damaged By Space Particle ‘Smaller Than A Grain Of Sand’

The hazards of space must be faced by even the largest spacecraft on the most ambitious missions. The Gaia satellite, also referred to as the Milky Way “billion-star surveyor,” was recently confronted with major difficulties by the European Space Agency (ESA). A high-speed micrometeoroid “smaller than a grain of sand” struck Gaia in April. The impact triggered the strongest solar storm in 20 years, which resulted in breathtaking auroras in May. Gaia’s capacity to carry out its renownedly accurate measurements was hindered by these occurrences.

Launched in December 2013, Gaia orbits about 932,000 miles from Earth. While millions of such particles incinerate in Earth’s atmosphere daily, impacts on satellites far from our planet are anticipated. The spacecraft was built to endure these conditions, but the micrometeoroid hit Gaia at a particularly detrimental angle, damaging its protective cover.

This impact created a minute gap, allowing stray sunlight, approximately one billionth the intensity of direct sunlight on Earth, to interfere with Gaia’s highly sensitive sensors. Following this, May’s solar storm unleashed a burst of energetic particles, likely causing an electronic malfunction. Consequently, Gaia recorded thousands of false detections and transmitted an overwhelming amount of data back to Earth.

The ESA noted that the storm might have been the tipping point for this segment of the satellite’s aging hardware. Despite this, scientists and engineers managed to adjust the instruments, reducing the number of false detections, and Gaia has since resumed normal operations.

Gaia was initially designed for a six-year mission but has remarkably survived almost twice as long in the harsh conditions of space. Despite recent setbacks, the ESA continues to monitor and adapt, ensuring Gaia’s mission to map the stars endures.