Posted on 09/22/2011 8:08:34 AM PDT by Windflier
A NASA satellite the size of a school bus is just days away from taking a fiery plunge into Earth’s atmosphere and could set off a dazzling display when it does … if anyone is able to see it.
NASA's 6 ½-ton Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite is due to fall somewhere on Earth Friday (Sept. 23), though exactly where and when remains a mystery.
If you happened to be lucky enough to be within viewing range of a satellite that is re-entering the atmosphere, the sight, put simply, would amount to a short-lived but spectacular fireworks display. Unlike a fireball meteor, whose flight across the sky might take no more than a few seconds, a re-entering satellite’s path usually lasts much longer.
As the satellite descends to an altitude of about 50 miles (80 kilometers), friction with the atmosphere is converted to light and heat. As it moves on a relatively slow – one could almost use the adjective “majestic” – flight across the sky, what is usually seen is a long trail of light and sparks that can take on virtually every color of the rainbow.
Small chunks of the satellite may be seen to break off and trail behind the main body. (NASA expects up to 26 pieces from UARS to survive re-entry and reach the ground.) If the re-entry occurs at night, it could light up the sky with a brilliance that easily rivals the full moon. Even if it occurs during the daytime, the satellite's fiery passage across the sky could be readily seen.
(Excerpt) Read more at space.com ...
Sorry...that should be about 3:10pm Eastern tomorrow.
I do. It's uncontrolled.
This is as bad as hurricane panic.
Looks like USA is safe.
Oh, is Maggie dating again? ;)
(Wish someone would start reruns of NE.
Fun show).
I was driving through Utah at night and saw that satellite burn through the sky - it took about 4 seconds and my passenger and I had dropped jaws and asked each other "did you see that??".
Thanks.
Without knowing the orbital track, I’ve been thinking the last few days that odds were pretty good it would end up in the South Pacific...
I don't know that that's relevant. They have the ability to track the orbit and plot the re-entry vector of any object they can get a fix on.
It seems highly unlikely to me that NASA and NORAD don't have at least an approximate idea of where this thing will come down.
Speaking school buses in orbit, this is an oldie but goodie (caution: some language).
Thanks, Alan.
(They have been accurate on the SST and ISS in the past.)
Checked it out on Starry Night, and I might be able to see it tonight at ~11:30PM tonight skimming between the Big Dipper and the horizon, but the weather's probably not going to cooperate.
My prediction:
East portion of Australia or just offshore of eastern Australia. Watch out islanders!
=8-)
Skylab landed in Australia. Maybe they’ll get UARS, too.
Why does it travel up and down in wavy lines like that?
Well, the orbital track I posted is from Friday afternoon. That’s the time frame when NASA says they SO FAR predict when it’s coming down.
When I back up the track, the orbit before the one I posted will take the UARS completely around the southern tip of South America, going nowhere near land, until it crosses eastern Africa at about 2:25pm Eastern. After it exits in north-central Africa near Libya, it’ll cross the Mediterranean, coming near Sicily and southern Italy and then into Eastern Europe. It will then pass into central Russia and over a lot of the ‘Stans’. It will cross Siberia and down the Korean Peninsula and over southern Japan at around 2:55pm Eastern.
After that, it’ll be over the South Pacific (as you thought) until it crosses into South America on the orbit I posted.
One thing to remember: until it gets closer to the actual re-entry time, NASA _SAYS_ they have no idea exactly WHEN it’ll fall. “Friday afternoon” is a fairly nebulous time-frame. Is it EARLY afternoon, LATE afternoon, or what? I just followed the time frame they said and showed the orbital track that will happen in the middle of the afternoon Eastern time in the US.
Look at a globe... and trace your finger where the "wavy line" shows on the map. It's a circle.
The orbital track appears as a wavy line when projected on a flat map of the world. If you were to project it on a globe, it would appear as a straight line going around in a circle. The reason the track moves eastward over the surface of the Earth is due to the Earth’s rotation. So, if you were to graph it out on a flat map, that’s where you get the wavy line.
I hope that helps.
You know, I’ve got a bad feeling about this, really, I’m not kidding. I’m almost postive the satellite is going to fall on me. Am I logged in?
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