#UARS #NASA #satellite crashes back to Earth; location unclear

Experts say 6-ton spacecraft penetrated atmosphere somewhere over Pacific

Below:

1. • x
     • 

     Jump to photos Month in space: August 2011

   •  

An artist's conception shows NASA's Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite breaking up and burning up during atmospheric re-entry.

By SETH BORENSTEIN

updated 24 minutes ago

WASHINGTON — NASA's dead 6-ton satellite plunged to Earth, but several hours later on Saturday, U.S. space officials didn't know just where it hit. They thought the fiery fall was largely over water and the debris probably hurt no one.

The bus-sized satellite first penetrated Earth's atmosphere somewhere over the Pacific Ocean, according to NASA and the U.S. Air Force's Joint Space Operations Center. But that doesn't necessarily mean it all fell into the sea.
NASA's earlier calculations had predicted that the 20-year-old former climate research satellite would fall over a 500-mile swath and could include land.
Because the plummet began over the ocean and given the lack of any reports of people being hit, that "gives us a good feeling that no one was hurt," but officials didn't know for certain, NASA spokesman Steve Cole told The Associated Press.
The two government agencies said the 35-foot satellite fell sometime between 11:23 p.m. EDT Friday and 1:09 a.m. EDT Saturday, but with no precise time or location.
There was rampant speculation on the Internet and Twitter, much of it focusing on unconfirmed reports and even video of debris over Alberta, Canada.

Cole said that was possible because the last track for the satellite included Canada, starting north of Seattle and then in a large arc north then south. From there, the track continued through the Atlantic south toward Africa, but it was unlikely the satellite got that far if it started falling over the Pacific.

Advertise | AdChoices

Cole said NASA was hoping for more details from the Air Force, which was responsible for tracking debris.
But given where the satellite may have fallen, officials may never quite know precisely.
"Most space debris is in the ocean. It'll be hard to confirm," Cole said.
Some 26 pieces of the satellite representing 1,200 pounds of heavy metal had been expected to rain down somewhere. The biggest surviving chunk should be no more than 300 pounds.
The Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite is the biggest NASA spacecraft to crash back to Earth, uncontrolled, since the post-Apollo 75-ton Skylab space station and the more than 10-ton Pegasus 2 satellite, both in 1979.

1. More space news from msnbc.com
   1. 

      AGI
      Your guide to spotting a falling satellite
      Science editor Alan Boyle's Weblog: Find out whether it's possible to watch NASA's six-ton satellite pass over your neighborhood on its way to Friday's fall from the sky.
   2. Plain citizens find 2 potential alien planets
   3. Found! Moon rock turns up in Clinton files
   4. Astronauts to Congress: Bring back shuttles

Russia's 135-ton Mir space station slammed through the atmosphere in 2001, but it was a controlled dive into the Pacific.
Before UARS fell, no one had ever been hit by falling space junk and NASA expected that not to change.
NASA put the chances that somebody somewhere on Earth would get hurt at 1-in-3,200. But any one person's odds of being struck were estimated at 1-in-22 trillion, given there are 7 billion people on the planet.
The satellite ran out of fuel and died in 2005. UARS was built and launched before NASA and other nations started new programs that prevent this type of uncontrolled crashes of satellite.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Photos: Month in space: August 2011w

Farewell to the last shuttle

Technicians remove one of the shuttle Atlantis' three main engines on Aug. 18, 2011, using a modified forklift set up in Orbiter Processing Facility Bay 2 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Atlantis was the last of NASA's space shuttles to be retired. Its engines will be stowed for study or possible use in the future. (Bruce Weaver / AFP - Getty Images

Sphere: Related Content