UARS Satellite Reentry

[Gibby]

NASA reports that UARS, an atmospheric research satellite the size of a small bus, will re-enter Earth's atmosphere on Sept. 23, plus or minus one day. Not all of the spectacularly-disintegrating spacecraft will burn up in the atmosphere; debris could be scattered along a ground track some 500 miles long. Because of the rapid evolution of UARS's decaying orbit, the location of the debris zone is not yet known. (courtesy of Spaceweather.com) There is more information in the following links...

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/uars/index.html
http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/585584main_UARS_Status.pdf

 

[Boyd]

It's back, but nobody is exactly sure where it fell... http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/space/story/2011-09-26/nasa-fallen-satellite/50561440/1

I hope NORAD could do a better job tracking a nuke that was launched from a submarine in that area.

"Certainly there are differences between an (inter-continental ballistic missile) and a satellite," says tracking radar expert George Lewis of Cornell University in New York. "Most of our radars are looking the other way," toward the North Pole trajectory that nuclear missiles would follow from Russia or China, he says. "We have only two radars that might reasonably track something coming from the direction of Australia."

 

[46er]

It's back, but nobody is exactly sure where it fell... http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/space/story/2011-09-26/nasa-fallen-satellite/50561440/1

I hope NORAD could do a better job tracking a nuke that was launched from a submarine in that area.

It was most likely in itsy bitsy pieces. Remember the Columbia shuttle accident, spread over 3 states.

 

[Boyd]

The 32" mirrors from this German satellite will hurt if they hit you.

Anyone who enjoyed the drama of the UARS re-entry saga can look forward to the middle of November, plus or minus five weeks, when the German space agency says its defunct ROSAT X-ray telescope will fall to Earth. It carries four heat-resistant mirrors, the largest 32 inches across and is likely to survive re-entry intact, according to the German Aerospace Center.

 

[46er]

I'll bet there will be a rash of UFO reports in the middle of November, plus or minus 5 weeks.

 

[Gibby]

The first link now has a final update of the reentry location. I wonder how much of the six tons was gold? It is used for wiring, connections and heat shielding.

 

[Gibby]

The 32" mirrors from this German satellite will hurt if they hit you.

The ROSAT X-ray observatory, launched in 1990 by NASA and managed for years by the German Aerospace Center (DLR), will return to Earth within the next two weeks. Keep an eye skyward between October 22nd and October 24th because that is when re-entry is expected. Most of the satellite is expected to impact the earth because it is made of heat resistant components. The area of impact is unknown at this time, and with the NASA's last experience of tracking a falling satellite...(see the second post). The mirror weighs in at 1.7 tons and more than likely will survive.

Re-entry is now expected October 23rd with forecasters favoring this event will occur earlier in the day.

 

[dogg57]

BERLIN (AP) – A defunct German research satellite crashed into the Earth somewhere in Southeast Asia on Sunday, a U.S. scientist said — but no one is still quite sure where.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/story/2011-10-23/german-satellite-falls/50874916/1

 

[Gibby]

The ROSAT satellite re-entered over north-west Thailand, but that is all that is known. This is the second time that a satellite fell to Earth recently and NASA hasn't a clue to where the wreckage landed.