Huge Dead Satellite to Plunge to Earth Soon, NASA Says..

[megimoo]

Heads up! That's the word from NASA today (Sept. 7) given the impending re-entry of a 6.5-ton satellite through Earth's atmosphere.:DDsmilie_panic:

The huge Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) is expected to re-enter Earth's atmosphere in an uncontrolled fall in late September or early October. Much of the spacecraft is expected to burn up during re-entry, but some pieces are expected to make it intact to the ground, NASA officials said.

The U.S. space agency will be taking measures to inform the public about the pieces of the spacecraft that are expected to survive re-entry.
snip
Small risk to public

One analysis of re-entry survivability for UARS components was performed several years ago with a software program called Object Re-entry Survival Analysis Tool, or ORSAT for short.

That computer analysis showed that about 150 component types, including the parent body of the satellite, will demise during re-entry, and 12 types (26 counting multiple components) would endure the fiery fall to Earth.

That appraisal indicated a surviving mass of 1,170 pounds (532 kilograms) falling within a debris footprint length of some 500 miles (800 kilometers).

"The risk to public safety or property is extremely small, and safety is NASA's top priority," noted a NASA website dedicated to the re-entry. "Since the beginning of the Space Age in the late-1950s, there have been no confirmed reports of an injury resulting from re-entering space objects. Nor is there a record of significant property damage resulting from a satellite re-entry."

Nonetheless, there is a chance that pieces of debris from the satellite will crash in areas accessible to the public.

http://www.space.com/12859-nasa-satellite-falling-space-debris-uars.html

[Rockntractor]

Cool!

[noonwitch]

Don't these kinds of things usually hit in Australia?


Watch out, Sonnebend!

[megimoo]

Don't these kinds of things usually hit in Australia?


Watch out, Sonnebend!

The one you are referring to was the The most massive NASA spacecraft to re-enter the atmosphere in an uncontrolled descent,the 78-ton Skylab space station, which in 1979 scattered debris in the Indian Ocean and an isolated stretch of Western Australia......Orbital debris has never been known to have injured a human, but legend has it a chunk of Skylab brought an untimely end to an Australian cow.

If there's any fuel left in the boosters they try to maneuver them into an isolated part of the Pacific Ocean,.....If not,Just hope for the best....

In contrast to EUVE's uncontrolled descent, NASA in 2000 safely guided the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory into the ocean because the 17-ton craft had an onboard steering system.

Likewise, in 2001, Russian ground controllers relied on similar means to coax the 135-ton Mir space station, the heaviest object in Earth orbit besides the moon, into its watery grave without a hitch.

[fettpett]

apparently it's a rule at NASA that all satellites must have the ability to be controlled so they can get them into proper orbit for a "controlled" splash down. most of the debris burns up during reentery

[Hawkgirl]

apparently it's a rule at NASA that all satellites must have the ability to be controlled so they can get them into proper orbit for a "controlled" splash down. most of the debris burns up during reentery

True. I watched Apollo 13 too!