Falling Satellite to Impact the Earth

Falling Satellite is headed towards earth today and NASA has released a list of countries that could be hit.

(Falling Satellite – NASA’s Upper Atmosphere Research image courtesy of Space.com)

The falling satellite, the size of a school bus, is expected to impact the earth’s atmosphere today according to predictions made by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

According to the agency, the falling satellite known as Upper Atmosphere Research (UARS) is expected to break into about 26 pieces as it re-enters Earth, and it will not hit North America but will most likely come down over Canada, Africa, Australia, the Pacific and Indian oceans.

As posted in NASA’s official website on Thursday, September 22, 2011, UARS is being estimated at 115 miles by 120 miles (185 km by 195 km). It will most likely to hit the Earth sometime between the afternoon of September 23 until 3 a.m. of September 24, Eastern Daylight Time.

“During that time period, the satellite will be passing over Canada, Africa and Australia, as well as vast areas of the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans,” the agency said.

As of 7 p.m. EDT on Sept. 23, 2011, the orbit of UARS was known to be 90 miles by 95 miles (145 km by 150 km), with NASA emphasizing that the risk to public safety is very remote.

NASA has forecast a 1-in-3,200 risk that debris from the satellite could hurt someone but the public is being advised not to touch any any suspected part of UARS debris.

And if you’re worried about debris falling from the now-defunct satellite headed toward the Earth, there’s an app that will help you keep track of its descending trajectory.

While NASA said its school bus-size UARS falling satellite is not expected to land near North America — and there’s only a 1 in 20 trillion risk that a piece from the satellite could actually hit you anyway — Android users can monitor its plunge toward Earth through an existing app that displays the positions of satellites in the sky.

A new and temporary button has been added to the Satellite AR app created by AGI that will keep people up to date with tracking the rogue device.

View the original article here