Posted on 10/21/2011 12:50:44 PM PDT by Red Badger
A defunct German satellite is expected to fall to Earth this weekend, with experts predicting that up to 30 big pieces of the junked spacecraft could hit the planet. But exactly when and where the satellite will fall remains a mystery.
The 2.7-ton Roentgen Satellite, or ROSAT, will likely plummet to Earth on Saturday or Sunday (Oct. 22 or 23), according to the latest update from the German Aerospace Center.
"Currently, the re-entry date can only be calculated to within plus/minus one day," agency officials said in a statement. "This time slot of uncertainty will be reduced as the date of re-entry approaches. However, even one day before re-entry, the estimate will only be accurate to within plus/minus five hours."
ROSAT weighs about 5,348 pounds (2,426 kilograms) and launched into orbit in June 1990 as part of a joint mission by Germany, the United States and the United Kingdom. In 1998, the satellite's star tracker failed, which caused its X-ray sensors to point directly at the sun. This permanently damaged the spacecraft, and ROSAT was officially decommissioned in February 1999. [Photos of Doomed ROSAT Satellite]
The falling German satellite's impending plunge through the atmosphere comes about a month after an old NASA climate satellite also fell uncontrolled to Earth, in what was a much publicized event. The Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) splashed into the Pacific Ocean, well away from the North American coastline, on Sept. 24.
The ROSAT spacecraft is smaller than the UARS satellite, which was about the size of a school bus and weighed about 6 1/2 tons. Still, German space officials expect ROSAT to drop debris along a 50-mile (80-km) stretch of the Earth's surface.
The satellite's orbit reaches from the latitudes of 53 degrees north and south, which means ROSAT could fall anywhere in an area stretching from Canada to South America. While officials have stated that there is a 1-in-2,000 chance that a piece of ROSAT could strike someone somewhere on Earth, the odds of any debris landing in a densely populated area are remote.
Germany's X-ray ROSAT observatory is expected to break up as it falls to Earth, but some large pieces are expected to survive the intense heat of re-entry. Up to 30 pieces of debris, totaling 1.9 tons (1.7 metric tons), could reach the Earth's surface, German aerospace officials said. These fragments will likely be pieces of the satellite's heat resistant mirrors and ceramic parts.
Mission controllers are actively tracking the satellite as its orbit gradually decays, but officials will not be able to make more precise determinations of when and where the satellite will fall until a few hours before ROSAT impacts the Earth.
You are talking about Don Lafontaine.
I like comedian Pablo Francisco’s imitation of him in Little Totilla Boy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9pAv-z2ens
Then put both of them and comedian Frank Caliendo together and its even better!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdKc-detk7c
Ich bin ein Burnupper
Pretty much the same thing as hitting Mecca.
Does this mean it is more likely to hit the US?
So is NASA following this re-entry crash or are they too busy sitting in Obama rubber rooms? I couldn’t find any info on NASA’s website.
That is the size of new apartments in the future Soviet America.
No, because the chance of being hit (1 in 2,000) during the specified forecast remains the same. It’ll cover all of the continents. Just keep an eye out for the future predictions as they come available. As the window narrows they’ll be able to pinpoint the time a little more accurately. Whether anyone sees it re-enter the atmosphere is another story.
Thanks for answering my post. I just noticed that DFW(where we live) is right under one of the ground tracks. We were right under Columbia when it broke apart and heard sonic booms as it re-entered. My husband and I were having coffee and a few minutes after we heard the booms, it broke on the news that it had blown up.
I did find this nifty little tracker just now:
It’s near Cuba right now.
It’s taken over 70 years but Germany may finally be able to physically attack the USA.
Actually..that was the wrong satellite.Here is the tracker for ROsat:
It is passing near Hawaii now.
According to the ROSAT Twitter feed the perigee altitude is down to 87 miles with re-entry usually around 76.
“...orbit 87.31 minutes 139.6 x 141.9 km”
Maybe the next pass?
Anoter Twitter feed
http://twitter.com/#!/search?q=%23ROSAT
say it was seen in Thailand on this pass before going over China.
I had been watching off and on yesterday and kinda thought it would be today by the stats that the stupid google track was giving. I researched a little and knew it was the 75 mile mark when it would start breaking up and never saw the stats go below 100 miles. Then fell asleep on the couch and missed the whole thing....lol!
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