ESA said the maneuver reduced the risk of dangerous space debris impact and space junk collision. ESA took Aeolus's end as an opportunity to try a first-of-a-kind reentry maneuver called an "assisted reentry," ESA said in a statement Tuesday. Map showing Aeolus satellite's location as it inched closer to Earth where it ultimately burned up over Antarctica. This means there's more risk of satellites crashing into one another, and that space debris flying to inhabited places on Earth. Aeolus's assisted reentry was part of that mission to make satellite reentry safer.

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Persons: Aeolus, reentries, Aeolus's, Tommaso Parrinello Organizations: European Space Agency, ESA, Service, Space Agency, Fraunhofer, NASA Locations: Wall, Silicon, Antarctica, Texas