Posted on 10/01/2011 1:29:05 PM PDT by Evil Slayer
The world was gripped by the Nasa UARS satellite that fell back to Earth last Saturday – and now there’s another that’s plummeting back from orbit.
In late October or early November a Germany astronomy satellite – called ROSAT- will plunge uncontrolled back to Earth.
While slightly smaller than UARS, the German satellite is expected to have more pieces survive re-entry. The German space agency estimated that it has a 1-in-2000 chance of hitting someone - higher than the 1-in-3,200 odds NASA gave for UARS.
The German ROSAT satellite was launched in 1990, 'died' in 1998 and weighs two and a half tonnes.
The German space agency estimates that 30 pieces weighing less than two tons will survive re-entry. Debris may include sharp mirror shards.
The German space agency puts the odds of somebody somewhere on Earth being hurt by its satellite at 1-in-2,000 — a slightly higher level of risk than was calculated for the Nasa satellite.
Again, it seems certain that information on when - or where - the satellite might land will be scant.
But any one individual's odds of being struck are 1-in-14trillion.
Heiner Klinkrad, head of the Space Debris Office at the European Space Agency, said in a webcast posted on the German Aerospace Center's website: ‘It is not possible to accurately predict ROSAT's re-entry.
‘The uncertainty will decrease as the moment of re-entry approaches. It will not be possible to make any kind of reliable forecast about where the satellite will actually come down until about one or two hours before the fact.’
Experts believe that two dozen metal pieces from the bus-sized Nasa satellite fell over a 500-mile span in the Pacific Ocean.
It began hitting the water southwest of Christmas Island.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
I thought it looked like NOMAD from the original Star Trek, lol.
No considering the last one destroyed my storage shed...........
Happy thought:
How would the lamestream media report it if the pieces only hit Planned Parenthood Clinics?
My first choice is Mecca! Come on baby, Daddy needs a new pair of shoes! But I’ll settle for Tehran!
First, amateur astronomers will have something to look at. I must admit that I was looking for UARS since its path went over CA. I saw nothing, unfortunately (except an airplane - it was looking promising initially.)
Second, the dead satellite will safely deorbit itself. We don't need junk in orbit - we already have too much of it up there.
The probability of damage on the surface is near zero. Earth is bombarded by meteors all the time, day and night. One more or one less won't change the statistics. Most of Earth's surface is ocean, and most of land is not populated. We have more people killed in car accidents in one day than people killed by falling space debris for the entire recorded history.
It will not come down in one piece. So you have a better chance to be hit by one of several pieces. Also from the last thread the orbit will keep it from fall near the north or south poles. Polar bears and penguins are safe unless they are held captive in a zoo.
A picture is truly worth a thousand words.
Ist das nicht ein Satellit?
Ja! Das ist ein Satellit!”
Heilige Scheiße!
That is hilarious!!
Are we going to have a live thread on this? The reason I ask is because it looks like it might be dropping out of the sky this weekend.
http://www.space.com/13353-falling-german-satellite-rosat-weekend-crash.html
The 2.7-ton Roentgen Satellite, or ROSAT, will likely plummet to Earth on Saturday or Sunday (Oct. 22 or 23), according to the latest update from the German Aerospace Center.
“Currently, the re-entry date can only be calculated to within plus/minus one day,” agency officials said in a statement. “This time slot of uncertainty will be reduced as the date of re-entry approaches. However, even one day before re-entry, the estimate will only be accurate to within plus/minus five hours.”
Satellite tracking of ROSAT.
http://www.n2yo.com/?s=20638
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