moose135
2011-09-23, 11:54 AM
From the New York Times:
The odds that a falling satellite will kill you on Friday are probably zero — but maybe not quite.
A dead hulk of a NASA satellite the size of a bus is skimming the top of the atmosphere, and as air molecules bounce off, its orbit is decaying until gravity finally pulls it down as a fiery meteor. To be specific, 26 large pieces of the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite, the heaviest about 330 pounds, are expected to survive all the way and hit the surface. The debris will stretch along a 500-mile path.Full Story (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/23/science/space/23satellite.html)
NASA's latest estimate is that it will re-enter sometime Friday afternoon or early evening, but the satellite's orbit will not take it over North American during that time.
The odds that a falling satellite will kill you on Friday are probably zero — but maybe not quite.
A dead hulk of a NASA satellite the size of a bus is skimming the top of the atmosphere, and as air molecules bounce off, its orbit is decaying until gravity finally pulls it down as a fiery meteor. To be specific, 26 large pieces of the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite, the heaviest about 330 pounds, are expected to survive all the way and hit the surface. The debris will stretch along a 500-mile path.Full Story (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/23/science/space/23satellite.html)
NASA's latest estimate is that it will re-enter sometime Friday afternoon or early evening, but the satellite's orbit will not take it over North American during that time.