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A $50 million environmental monitoring satellite launched on 22 August
is spinning out of control. NASA’s Lewis satellite was designed to study the
light reflected by the Earth in 384 different frequency bands, allowing it to
monitor pollution, analyse threatened habitats and estimate agricultural
productivity. But with the satellite revolving twice per minute, its solar
panels cannot function properly. Unless the problem is fixed within a couple of
weeks, the satellite will fall into the Earth’s atmosphere and burn up.