Posted on 09/23/2011 10:07:53 AM PDT by Evil Slayer
A huge, dead satellite tumbling to Earth is falling slower than expected, and may now plummet down somewhere over the United States tonight or early Saturday, despite forecasts that it would miss North America entirely, NASA officials now say.
The 6 1/2-ton Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) was expected to fall to Earth sometime this afternoon (Sept. 23), but changes in the school bus-size satellite's motion may push it to early Saturday, according to NASA's latest observations of the spacecraft.
"The satellite's orientation or configuration apparently has changed, and that is now slowing its descent," NASA officials wrote in a morning status update today. "There is a low probability any debris that survives re-entry will land in the United States, but the possibility cannot be discounted because of this changing rate of descent."
NASA expects about 26 large pieces of the UARS spacecraft to survive re-entry through Earth's atmosphere and reach the planet's surface. The biggest piece should weigh about 300 pounds. The spacecraft is the largest NASA satellite to fall from space uncontrolled since 1979.
(Excerpt) Read more at space.com ...
Bush’s fault.
Dang, I thought it was gonna fall on China or India! Now we have to worry about this???
Is it too early for me to start selling pieces of it on E-Bay?
OH NOES!, OH NOES!
THIS IS HUGH AND SERIES!
My BEEBER IS GONNA GET STUNED!
Odds of being hit by a piece of it 1 in 3200.
Seem kinda high to you?
Awesome! Fireworks at halftime of tonight’s homecoming game!!!
Current odds in Vegas are 3150-1.
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue?
If it lands somewhere in Washington DC, after an earthquake, hurricane, floods, etc., I’d wonder if we’re being told something.
Go ahead and put up an prank Ebay listing for pieces of the satellite and see how long it takes for Ebay to pull it!
Not sure about you guys, but I’m gonna go take a shower.
Where did you find the tracking? I wonder if it will be tracked here like the doomed shuttle was.
From the article...
"NASA officials have said the the chances that a piece of UARS debris hits and injures one of the nearly 7 billion people on the planet are about 1 in 3,200. However, the personal odds of you being struck by UARS satellite debris are actually about 1 in several trillion, NASA officials have said."
The 1 in 3,200 is not an individual risk. If it was, there would be a mass casualty event wherever it fell.
Hmmm, 300,000,000 people in the USA so does that mean (300,000,000 / 3200) 93,750 people are going to be hit?
(hint trick question)
Ah, your statement would mean 2 million people will get clobbered by this thing.
Now, if that could be focused on San Francisco and Manhattan, that may not be such a bad thing...
...but I think NASA meant that there's a 1/3200 chance that ANYONE on the planet gets clobbered by this falling satellite.
The newsies are pretty excited about this.
And wash off all that sparkly, satellite-fairy dust off of you?
Good!!!
As long as it falls on top of the WH, Captiol building, UN, or Mecca, and hopefully all four.
Bring it on.
“Where did you find the tracking?”
http://www.space.com/13018-falling-nasa-satellite-uars-complete-coverage.html
Not to mention the Feds come knocking on your door. It’s still government property..............
THAILAND?.............
Will there be ‘satellite chasers’ from the legal world? Watch out for lawsuits, NASA.
If it falls into my backyard, I’m sellin’ AND suin’.
I wouldn’t mind if it hit my house, while I’m away. It’s in need of a remodeling............
"OH MY GOD....THEY KILLED KENNY!"
Then they can go to Admiralty Court and pay the prize amount. Salvage is salvage.
/johnny
seems like a wonderful opportunity to test strategic defense missiles.
How much is a 300 lbs chunk of it worth?
“Odds of being hit by a piece of it 1 in 3200.”
Really high - as in bad.
If it lands in my yard they will pay dearly to get it back.
Wonder if there are any precious metals on board?
That would be the physics package - what to you think a nuclear bomb is worth?
That's actually odds of one person out of 6+ billion being hit. Odds of YOU getting hit are more like 1 in 20 trillion (after doing some rough math).
Not that I’m looking to leave this earth yet, but if I had to pick some accidental way to go I guess having a satellite fall on my head would be a pretty cool way to get your ticket punched.
You get your 15 minutes of fame, it would be quick, your life insurance would definitely have to cover the triple indemnity clause for accidental death, and it would be fun to have that on your tombstone.
Oh, and your name will be mentioned about 1000 times a day by the MSM for the next 100 years whenever another one of them comes down.
BTW screen caps from free Orbitron software available here —> http://www.stoff.pl/
Am I a bad person for wondering if this would be excluded as an act of God under my homeowner’s insurance? Our upstairs bathroom could really do with the upgrade....
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Prank? I could make the pieces in no time. A few pieces of scrap metal and a torch will do wonders! Each with a “Certificate of Authenticity”.
If someone really did (or tried) it wouldn’t surprise me.
I don't want to bet all my money. What happens if I'm wrong? :)
Fine with me . . .
. . . as long as the debris only rains down on Planned Parenthood Clinics and ACORN Offices.
(I know, I know, it won’t happen but just the thought of the lamestream media trying to explain it tickles me.)
That’s exactly what I was thinking. The CoA would be the icing on the cake! LOL!
Next thing you know NASA would send in its own SWAT team to recover it! LOL!
Not with Federal property. Try bringing up any piece of a sunken US Navy ship and see what happens.
The 300-lb chunk (Guess what that is?) is expected to land intact.
I wonder why, now, the US Governemnt has announced that any piece hitting the ground is US government property, and they will rapidly collect it?
Yeah, there are some rare metals aboard. Plutonium, irridum ...
If it hits your land, take a photo and get out of dodge. Take your dogs with you - they will likely not survive the impending SWAT response.
Why...that 6 1/2 ton satellite could actually gain weight after landing.
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