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 ...
WE pay insurance companies for the pleasure of watching them find obscure, arcane, insane and seriously a pain reasons to NOT pay claims they promised they would honour as long as you paid premiums to them.
Insurance companies are worse than any parody could make them, and those who work in their sales or “adjustment” departments WILL meet G_d someday, and they can explain to HIM why they deny damned near EVERYTHING.
Any clue how they arrive at this odds number of 1 in 3200? Do they present the numbers?
That was rather tasteless. The doomed shuttle was being followed with joy and anticipaion, and then there was realization of disaster.
Even DU, who were also watching, were moved by the genuine and deep expression of grief and sadness here. You should be ashamed of yourself.
But everything is not equal. It is true for a given object. A sheet of paper falling flat has more drag than if it falls on edge. But two same size balloons with the same drag and different weight (or density since their volumes are equal), such as one balloon filled with air and another filled with water, have different terminal velocity.
The first poster seemed to think that the heavier pieces were going to fall slower than the lighter ones. The chart I posted clearly refutes that.
Also, freely falling objects by definition do not have drag.
LOL
Not true!
As a newbie insurance adjuster I believed it was my job to deny every claim and did. After a few weeks I was called into the President’s office and told that “Our policy is that every claim is payable”.
My decades of experience in the insurance industry has seen that principle decline because of overbearing regulations, ambulance chasers, forced coverage for incalcuable risks, resulting in a diminished product and increased premiums.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jj-bC5KQ8os
USS Lake Erie blew up an out of control satellite in 2008. They could have blown up this satellite, too.
They (underwriters) were told to accept policies outside their standard parameters.
Interest rates were so high that it was worth getting the premiums to invest at those rates to cover the additional losses.
Of course, he added, that part of the underwriters' compensation was based on beating the actuarial tables...so they got shafted in that environment...
IOW, the satellite struck Obama's birthplace.
I don't buy this BS.
NASA knows precisely the area and the time the satellite splashed down.
Leni
Actually, that would be impossible, since it broke up into many pieces as it came down, with some parts falling at different rates than others, hitting the earth at different times, and leaving a large debris field. But I think I know what you mean :)
Thank goodness we weren’t trying to track a MIRV.
#
Update #15
Sat, 24 Sep 2011 12:46:42 AM PDT
NASA’s decommissioned Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite fell back to Earth between 11:23 p.m. EDT Friday, Sept. 23 and 1:09 a.m. EDT Sept. 24. The Joint Space Operations Center at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California said the satellite penetrated the atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean. The precise re-entry time and location are not yet known with certainty.
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/uars/index.html
So, I guess it landed in the water
The insurance adjustor came out to the farm and told my Dad he couldn't give him full coverage because part of the barn was still standing. My Dad told the adjustor to follow him as he had something to show him. They walked deep into the part of the barn still standing. As they stood there with it creaking in the wind, my dad said "I don't feel safe in here." Full coverage was provided.
Owww! That hurt!
That was salt-of-the-earth genius - making his point and getting to the core of the matter in 6 words. Results like that would normally take a team of lawyers and months of negotiations!
It might hit Washington, DC, which might not be a bad thing, depending on where.
Where did it land in the Pacific I heard?
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