1,300-pound NASA satellite re-enters Earth's atmosphere after 14 years in space — luggage scale generates own power
When Satellites Fall: Smarter, Self-Powered Travel Gear I woke before the alarm, the kind of thin, nervous waking you get the day of a big trip. The hotel AC clicked, then sighed. Outside, the city was quiet enough to hear the elevator cables moan through the shaft. I made coffee, watched it ripple into the paper cup, and cracked the curtains. The sky over the airport was slate and still. Then, just for a breath, something trembled through the dark—a pale scratch, then a smear, then nothing. You could mistake it for a meteor. Or a trick of tired eyes. But somewhere high above all of our road-weary rituals, a piece of a distant story was ending in a rush of heat and air.