The probe entered a special low-altitude orbit for about five months to allow the GRAND instrument to analyze emissions from Vesta's surface that result from collisions between cosmic ray particles and elements in the asteroid's dirt.

MSN: Surprisingly, giant asteroid Vesta covered in hydrogen

SPADUS, was put into orbit, at an altitude of 850km, aboard a military satellite.

ECONOMIST: Orbital debris

Alongside the HTC-made handset are an altitude and orbit control system, two propulsion setups and a Linux-based computer with a "high-speed" processor.

ENGADGET

They were most concerned with low-Earth orbit (that is, below 2, 000km in altitude).

BBC: Space debris collisions expected to rise