News UARS about to fall from the sky

[agentgonzo]

[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upper_Atmosphere_Research_Satellite"]UARS[/ame] is set to fall from the sky in a month or two.

Current Orbit
Current Position

It's on a 57°-inclined orbit so it could potentially land pretty-much anywhere on the Earth. TFA says that it's 'narrowed' it down to anywhere between 57°S and 57°N...

Should be a fireball as impressive as the ATV when it does, so look up (unless it's falling towards you, in which case RUN FOR THE HILLS!)

Edit: It's currently (9/9/11) at about 250km altitude, so I'd expect it to be a few months before it reenters. Nasa say end of September/beginning of October, but they're more likely to be right than I am.

 

[astrosammy]

Man, that's sad. Strangely right after the program of it's launch vehicle ended...
It has always been a nice object to look at. Quick, we need someone to make an addon!

 

[SiberianTiger]

My own picture of its passage streak against "tail" of Ursa Major, taken on May 19th, 2009:

 

[agentgonzo]

My own picture of its passage streak against "tail" of Ursa Major, taken on May 19th, 2009:

That's a really faint streak. I had to struggle to see it (for others, it's lower-left in the image on a TR-BL trajectory). Maybe increase the contrast a bit, tiger?

 

[SiberianTiger]

That's a really faint streak. I had to struggle to see it (for others, it's lower-left in the image on a TR-BL trajectory). Maybe increase the contrast a bit, tiger?

So that everybody could see how noisy my matrix is? No, thanks!

 

[RisingFury]

Now where's my hard hat...
​

 

[Jarvitä]

Man the air raid shelters! :hide:

 

[jangofett287]

http://rangers.wen.ru/worms/incominglong.mp3 -notably apt.

 

[orb]

SPACE.com: Dead NASA Satellite Falling From Space, But When & Where?

 

[Ghostrider]

We're all gonna die. And then we're going to rise again as zombies. And then we're all gonna die again of BOOM HEADSHOT.

 

[orb]

We're all gonna die.

CBS News Space: NASA tracks falling science satellite, says risk to public minimal

 

[NukeET]

From Space.com:

Where Could UARS Satellite Debris Fall?

 

[Scav]

If it falls in my front yard, I'm going to be upset.

Then I'm going to decorate it with latticework and roses.

And then they're going to haul me away.

 

[Rtyh-12]

I predict that the (more stupid part of the) public will freak out and blame NASA for a lot of completely irrelevant stuff...

Edit:

...a chance of 1-in-3,200 that one person anywhere in the world might be struck by a piece of debris...

This is low... but not extremely low. What are the odds that it will, for example, land on someone's house or car? Sure, the chances are low, but you need to think about it too...

 

[RisingFury]

CBS News Space: NASA tracks falling science satellite, says risk to public minimal

Oh, that's too bad. For some strange reason, I wouldn't consider it a bad thing, if a piece of this sat landed in my bedroom...

 

[Axertan]

Some more info from NASA website
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/uars/index.html

 

[orb]

SPACE.com: Dead Satellite Will Fall to Earth By September's End, NASA Says

 

[astrosammy]

Good that it isn't in german news... I don't want to see all that anti-spaceflight comments...

Looking at Heavens-Above, Europe will have some nice passes until the reentry. Magnitude will get to -0.6 on the 28th, if it is still up there...

If you find something you think may be a piece of UARS, do not touch it. Contact a local law enforcement official for assistance.

Nice, maybe my first time to call 110...

---------- Post added at 23:40 ---------- Previous post was at 22:19 ----------

As you see in my signature, I've created a scenario with the newest orbital elements of UARS. Of course the aerodynamics cannot be simulated in a way to predict the impact site, but with the CW value I've used I had a reentry on the 26th.

Orbiter 2010 or later recommended because of the new atmosphere model...

 

[Kendo]

Considering the world population, I would have thought that 1 in 3,200 is fairly high. For example it is 2 people in a small village.

 

[ky]

Heres a pic of UARS