Falling satellite, about the size of a bus, is headed toward earth and it could hit the Philippines.
(Falling satellite photo courtesy of Space.com)
A defunct NASA satellite is falling to Earth and officials gave the official list of areas where the debris could come crashing down. Unfortunately, Philippines is included.
The research satellite is now likely to tumble to Earth between 11 p.m. Friday and 3 a.m. Saturday (Eastern Daylight Time.) showering pieces over an as-yet unknown part of the planet, NASA said.
The U.S. Space agency also mentioned that the satellite is expected to pass over Canada, Africa, Australia, and large stretches of the Pacific (Philippines included), Atlantic and Indian oceans during that time.
The scientists, however, are unable to pinpoint the specific place and time where the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite, or UARS, will return to Earth due to the satellite’s unpredictable tumbles.
“The satellite’s orientation apparently has changed, and that is now slowing its descent,” NASA said.
The UARS is among the largest spacecraft to plummet uncontrollably to earth by virtue of it’s 35 feet length, 15 feet diameter and weight of 5,897 kg.
Compared to NASA’s 75-ton Skylab station, which crashed to Earth in 1979, the UARS is slimmer.
The 13,000-pound (5,897 kg) satellite was dispatched into orbit by a space shuttle crew in 1991 to study ozone and other chemicals in Earth’s atmosphere. It completed its mission in 2005 and has been slowly losing altitude ever since, pulled by the planet’s gravity.
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