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.

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Falling Satellite May Hit the Philippines

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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