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.
Shades of the movie Siam Sunset? Don’t lay on the ground outside- be a small target.
A shocking development.
See, batteries don’t last. Someone is always throwing some away somewhere!
Yeah, even consumer NiMH batteries seem lighter than their NiCad counterparts.
orbital velocity is around 17,000 mph. Escape velocity is around 25,000 mph.
If you want to pay for the vehicle to grab it and then accelerate it to escape velocity, feel free to give Elon Musk a call.
I don’t know whether to see this as a positive or a negative. In the end watt does it matter anyway?
These are actually Ni/H2. They only contain sintered Nickel and Hydrogen gas in a pressure vessel.
Don’t tell John F’ing Kerry about this happening. He might have ketchup fit.
Like I said, you have to get out of the Earth’s gravitational well (about 7000 mph above orbital speed) and then negate most of the earth’s orbital velocity (an additional 67,000 mph) for a total delta-V of **74,000 mph**. IOW, it’s 4 times harder to go from low earth orbit to the sun as it was to get to low earth orbit in the first place.
It took many years for the Messenger probe to orbit Mercury. The probe used many gravity assists with planets to get the necessary speed for the encounter.
“If you want to pay for the vehicle to grab it and then accelerate it to escape velocity, feel free to give Elon Musk a call.”
Screw it; he’s not calling anyone back. Let the stuff drop to Earth.
Two questions -
1 - Did they perform an environmental impact study?
2 - Who did Germany piss off this time?
Only on a 70s era “Super-Friends” cartoon.
OK, since the Earth’s 75% water, the fish’ll deal with it, then.
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