Posted on 03/08/2024 11:29:46 AM PST by Red Badger
"Luminous phenomena or the perception of a sonic boom are possible."
The International Space Station jettisons a 2.9-ton pallet carrying used batteries on March 11, 2021. This photo was posted on Twitter by NASA astronaut Mike Hopkins (Image credit: NASA/Mike Hopkins via Twitter)
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A nearly 3-ton leftover tossed overboard from the International Space Station is nearing its plunge toward Earth.
The multi-ton Exposed Pallet 9 (EP9) was jettisoned from the space station back in March 2021. At the time, it was reported to be the most massive object ever tossed overboard from the International Space Station. Disposing of used or unnecessary equipment in such a way is common practice aboard the space station, as the objects typically burn up harmlessly in Earth's atmosphere.
Ahead of EP9's reentry, the Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Relief, National Warning Center 1 in Bonn, Germany issued this information:
"Between midday on March 8 and midday on March 9, a larger space object is expected to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere and possibly fragment," the translated statement explains. "The object is battery packs from the International Space Station (ISS). Luminous phenomena or the perception of a sonic boom are possible."
The post from the warning center explains that "the probability of debris hitting Germany is considered to be very low. If the risk increases, you will receive new information."
According to a social media post by astronomer Jonathan McDowell of the Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, the battery should reenter between 7:30 a.m. ET (1230 GMT) on March 9 and 3:30 a.m. ET (0830 UTC) on March 9.
Germany's Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Relief issued a map showing possible tracks of reentry for the battery pallet.
Ahead of its expected re-entry, satellite tracker Marco Langbroek caught a glimpse of the battery as it passed over the Netherlands, posting a video of it to X (formerly Twitter).
EP9 is loaded with old Nickel-Hydrogen batteries, NASA explained at the time it was jettisoned, also explaining that EP9 has the approximate mass of a large SUV and predicting it would re-enter Earth's atmosphere in two-to-four years.
The EP9 was delivered to the ISS via Japan's HTV-9 (Kountori 9) on May 20, 2020. The EP9 carried six Lithium-Ion battery Orbital Replacement Units (ORUs) which replaced existing ISS Nickel-Hydrogen batteries during an astronaut spacewalk.
Assault & Battery Ping!...................
NO REASON AND NO ACCOUNTABILITY!!!
Does it contain a slightly-used toolkit?
Nothing to get amped up about, but those in charge should be resisted...
Litterbugging climate Nazi’s
Good one!
When is the tool bag the chick dropped coming down?
It might take decades..................
Wherever it falls, I hope it hits one of the WEFtards on the head.
That’s pretty hypnotizing.
Cologny Switzerland would be nice.
Damn litterers!
In the picture the armature says “Canada”.
Therefore Trudeau is littering the planet.
Couldn’t they figure a way to launch it harmlessly into the SUN?
if one of the regular people dropped of a few pounds of used batteries off somewhere that wasn’t designated they’d be tracked down like a J6 fugitive, convicted of some obscure law about battery and abuse and promptly buried UNDER the jail. what if one of these falling batteries actually hits someone. Will that be considered assault with battery?
It would be battery with a battery.
Let’s hope we don’t have see it live in real time. 😏
If you thought acid raid was bad, wait until you get Lithium rain.
Oh wait it’s Lithium. Maybe it will calm Joe down and stop him from screaming.
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