NASA say defunct satellite due to plunge to earth

mtb_kng wrote: »

Sure Kim Il-sung's family are decendants of the Il-sung's of Leitrim.

I know you were kidding, but "Kim" is the family name. Kim Il-Sung, son of Kim Jong-Il.

So you mean the Kims from Leitrim. I know them well

In todays indo watch out people

By Andy Bloxham
Thursday September 22 2011
A 20-YEAR-OLD NASA satellite the size of a bus is heading for Earth and expected to hit tomorrow.

NASA and the US Department of Defense are tracking the 35ft spacecraft, the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite, or (UARS), as it heads towards the planet at five miles per second.

Experts say there is a one-in-3,200 risk of the six-ton space junk hitting someone.

However, its speed means that there will only be a 20-minute warning before it strikes.

Debris is expected to scatter across a 500-mile area, with the biggest chunk weighing 300lb, the weight of a large refridgerator.

The anticipated landing area spans cities as far north as Edinburgh and as far south as Cape Horn, on the southern coast of South America.

NASA spokespeople have stressed that the risk to human life and property from UARS is small.

They cite the statistic that in 50 years of space exploration no one has ever been hurt by falling space junk, while they claimed that people were much more likely to be fatally struck by lightning.

Mark Matney, an orbital debris scientist at NASA, said: "We know it is going to hit somewhere between 57 north latitude and 57 south latitude, which covers most of the inhabited world unfortunately."

The biggest piece of space debris to fall from orbit was America's 75-ton Skylab which hit Earth in 1979.

UARS was launched in 1991 to measure the ozone layer, wind and temperature. It was officially decommissioned in 2005.

It is the biggest NASA spacecraft to "come back" in three decades, after Skylab fell in western Australia but Mr Matney said similar-sized pieces of spent rocket and satellite debris fall to Earth about once per year.

US Strategic Command's Joint Space Operations Center is "keeping everyone - not just NASA but all the federal agencies that deal with public safety issues - informed about where it is and predictions of where it's coming," a spokeswoman said.

NASA has warned people not to touch the debris if they come across it because it is likely to have sharp edges.

- Andy Bloxham

murrayp4 wrote: »

Just missed the report on the 9 news.What time is it due to cross Ireland?

Apparently 6 hours time, with Galway and Wexford in line

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNHffbAxVh4

And this is the shuttle launch that brought UARS to space

CaptainSkidmark wrote: »

any idea when its ment to crash?

Update #10
Fri, 23 Sep 2011 03:45:08 PM GMT+0100

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.

updated from here

I'd imagine they use the Big Sky theory and play the odds that it won't happen. It covers too much sky too quickly to re-route airliners on the fly. The thing is the size of a bus and there are about 6 parts each the size of a large fridge expected to survive moving at least 10,000mph.

If it lands in my garden I'm keeping it NASA can f### off.Finders keepers.

shedweller wrote: »

Probably an obvious question but do airliners flying in a known re-entry zone have to redirect when something like this happens?

Irish Aviation Authority have issued this under their NAV WARNINGS :

NAV WRNG - RESEARCH SATELLITE DE-ORBIT. DEBRIS MAY IMPACT THROUGH
AIRSPACE INCLUDING SHANNON FIR/UIR AND SOTA SOUTH OF 552500N. ALL
PERSONS ARE STRONGLY REQUESTED TO REPORT ANY ENCOUNTER WITH OR
EXPERIENCE OF FALLING DEBRIS AS SOON AS PRACTICABLE BY RT OR VIA THE
IAA MANDATORY OCCURRENCE REPORTING SYSTEM WHICH CAN BE ACCESSED VIA
WWW.IAA.IE. THIS INFORMATION MAY ASSIST TO PLOT ACCURATELY THE
PRESENCE OF DEBRIS AND ANY EFFECT ON FLIGHT.
FROM: 23 SEP 2011 17:22 TO: 24 SEP 2011 12:00

PDF here http://www.iaa.ie/index.jsp?p=97&n=125

Looks like the next orbit will be just south of Ireland.

http://www.heavens-above.com/orbit.aspx?satid=21701

gbee wrote: »

It's moving tooooo fast, you can't post that in 3 mins ~ it's already GONE. Russia NOW

Look at the time I posted and then when you did, 7min difference:). And there is a delay on that site too so it's a good bit ahead in orbit than when you refresh that site, so we are are all out by about 5-10 mins I reckon. Don't know what the update lag on that site is like. I would be great to have a real real time tracking site and we could see NORAD tracking data. I can dream can't I.

Looks like the next pass will be just North of us, thought it would be a flyover but does not look like it now.