Break out the hardhats! 7 ton NASA satellite set to fall this fall

Catbird · 09-07-2011, 02:48 PM

"7-ton NASA satellite set to fall"

"...The Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite, or UARS, is expected to come down in late September or early October, the space agency said today in an advisory. "Although the spececraft will break into pieces during re-entry, not all of it will burn up in the atmosphere," NASA said.

...The satellite's current orbit is 155 by 174 miles (250 by 280 kilometers), with an inclination of 57 degrees. That means the satellite could come down anywhere between 57 degrees north latitude and 57 degrees south. NASA estimated that the debris footprint would stretch about 500 miles..."

CanadaSue · 09-07-2011, 02:53 PM

Something I've always wondered with satellites & other major objects up there. Why don't they have a small rocket with the fuel needed to point those things AWAY from earth, then ignite the rocket long enough to break orbit; to send them away from earth rather than risk debris falling back?

Has to be a good reason or they'd routinely do that, you'd think.

Sysiphus · 09-07-2011, 03:02 PM

They should require these types of satellites to have a rudimentary propulsion system so they can do one last burn and get them on a trajectory that will take them ove rthe water.

Catbird · 09-17-2011, 01:51 PM

NASA has moved up the expected impact day to Sept. 23 (+/- 24h) according to HuffPost.

"...NASA scientists have calculated the satellite will break into 26 pieces as it gets closer to Earth. The odds of it hitting someone anywhere on the planet are 1 in 3,200. The heaviest piece to hit the ground will be about 350 pounds, but no one has ever been hit by falling space junk in the past."

There's a first time...

Samen · 09-17-2011, 02:29 PM

1 in 3,200 is better than the bingo, that number sounds rather high.

508000000000000 sq meters of earth
7000000000 population
72571 sq meters per person
2 tired to continue the math

kanuck57 · 09-17-2011, 05:57 PM

URAS Real Time Satellite Tracker

http://www.n2yo.com/?s=21701

.

linttrap · 09-17-2011, 06:11 PM

Quote:

"...NASA scientists have calculated the satellite will break into 26 pieces as it gets closer to Earth. The odds of it hitting someone anywhere on the planet are 1 in 3,200. The heaviest piece to hit the ground will be about 350 pounds, but no one has ever been hit by falling space junk in the past."

Exsqueeze me? Whoever wrote this isn't much of a fact checker. Even Wiki knows it's wrong.

That so-called remote possibility has already happened for the first time:

"There has only been one recorded incident of a person being hit by human-made space debris. In 1997 an Oklahoma woman named Lottie Williams was hit in the shoulder by a 10 x 13 centimetres (5.1 in) piece of blackened, woven metallic material that was later confirmed to be part of the fuel tank of a Delta II rocket which had launched a U.S. Air Force satellite in 1996. She was not injured."

Catbird · 09-21-2011, 06:53 PM

Latest from NASA: "Re-entry is expected sometime during the afternoon of Sept. 23, Eastern Daylight Time. The satellite will not be passing over North America during that time period."

Kassy · 09-21-2011, 10:00 PM

Plenty of other land mass to hit if it's at that latidude. We'll know more tomorrow.

Mousehound · 09-23-2011, 05:51 AM

The servers of that other tracker are over-loaded. This one is working for me at the moment.
http://www.heavens-above.com/orbit.aspx?satid=21701

Samen · 09-23-2011, 07:28 AM

I say it falls on Fukushima.

flowerchild · 09-23-2011, 07:40 AM

I think the woman did get hurt a little. I saw her yesterday being interviewed. She was really funny. She said the best advice she could give, was that if you see it coming, you better run.

Mousehound · 09-23-2011, 08:55 AM

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Summary
• No NASA or USG human casualty reentry risk limits existed when UARS
was designed, built, and launched.
• NASA, the USG, and some foreign space agencies now seek to limit human
casualty risks from reentering space objects to less than 1 in 10,000.
• UARS is a moderate-sized space object. Uncontrolled reentries of objects
more massive than UARS are not frequent, but neither are they unusual.
– Combined Dragon mockup and Falcon 9 second stage reentry in June 2010 was more
massive.
• Since the beginning of the space age, there has been no confirmed report
of an injury resulting from reentering space objects.
• NASA, DoD, and the IADC will be monitoring the decay and reentry of UARS
carefully.

http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/585584main_UARS_Status.pdf

Mousehound · 09-23-2011, 09:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by linttrap

Exsqueeze me? Whoever wrote this isn't much of a fact checker. Even Wiki knows it's wrong.

That so-called remote possibility has already happened for the first time:

"There has only been one recorded incident of a person being hit by human-made space debris. In 1997 an Oklahoma woman named Lottie Williams was hit in the shoulder by a 10 x 13 centimetres (5.1 in) piece of blackened, woven metallic material that was later confirmed to be part of the fuel tank of a Delta II rocket which had launched a U.S. Air Force satellite in 1996. She was not injured."

That bit is actually directly from the NASA site on page 8 and 11 of this.

Mousehound · 09-23-2011, 12:59 PM

Update #10
Fri, 23 Sep 2011 04:45:08 PM GMT+0200

As of 10:30 a.m. EDT on Sept. 23, 2011, the orbit of UARS was 100 miles by 105 miles (160 km by 170 km). Re-entry is expected late Friday, Sept. 23, or early Saturday, Sept. 24, Eastern Daylight Time. Solar activity is no longer the major factor in the satellite’s rate of descent. The satellite’s orientation or configuration apparently has changed, and that is now slowing its descent. 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. It is still too early to predict the time and location of re-entry with any certainty, but predictions will become more refined in the next 12 to 18 hours.

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/uars/index.html

linttrap · 09-23-2011, 02:01 PM

Those folks at NASA need to walk away from the monitors every now and then and check the news.

Lottie Williams's story has been retold umpteen times since we got the news of the latest space junk about to fall.

Here's a good version of it from Canada, including a pic of the junk that hit her.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/daily...145536940.html

CanadaSue · 09-23-2011, 02:21 PM

Bummer, it's clouded over here. I was hoping for a clear evening/night in hopes we'd get a bit of a light show as pieces burned up.

Mousehound · 09-23-2011, 02:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CanadaSue

Bummer, it's clouded over here. I was hoping for a clear evening/night in hopes we'd get a bit of a light show as pieces burned up.

It's totally missing you so far.
http://www.heavens-above.com/orbit.aspx?satid=21701

Auburn Boy · 09-23-2011, 02:42 PM

Latest update:

UARS falling SLOWER than expected. Will likely break up and re-enter somewhere over the US!!!!

Wow!!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44632366...ace/?GT1=43001

Exodia · 09-23-2011, 02:54 PM

Cloudy and raining here. Will never see it coming!

CanadaSue · 09-23-2011, 02:57 PM

Nissing us for sure - I just wondered if - were it clear - we might see some of the pieces burning up closer to the horizon.

Mousehound · 09-23-2011, 03:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Auburn Boy

Latest update:

UARS falling SLOWER than expected. Will likely break up and re-enter somewhere over the US!!!!

Wow!!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44632366...ace/?GT1=43001

See post #15.

Exodia · 09-23-2011, 03:01 PM

UN convened in NY City. Hmmmm.

Potemkin · 09-23-2011, 03:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by linttrap

Those folks at NASA need to walk away from the monitors every now and then and check the news.

Lottie Williams's story has been retold umpteen times since we got the news of the latest space junk about to fall.

Here's a good version of it from Canada, including a pic of the junk that hit her.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/daily...145536940.html

Scars or it didn't happen.

linttrap · 09-23-2011, 03:33 PM

Potemkin said:

Quote:

Scars or it didn't happen.

Lottie said:

Quote:

About half an hour later she recalls feeling like she was tapped on her shoulder before hearing something hit the ground.

"The weight was comparable to an empty soda can,""It looked like a piece of fabric except when you tap it, it sounded metallic."

Lottie ALSO said:

Quote:

The Center for Orbital and Reentry Debris Studies (CORD) analyzed the piece and confirmed it to be part of the fuel tank of a Delta II rocket that launched a satellite in 1996.

Williams says she received a letter from the Deputy Secretary of Defense apologizing for the incident.

I guess they neglected to cc: NASA on that.