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Author Topic: Falling Satellite  (Read 836 times)

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Offline skyblue1

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Falling Satellite
« on: September 19, 2011, 05:32:03 PM »
A 20-year-old satellite is expected to crash into Earth later this week, and the debris has a roughly 1-in-3,200 chance of hitting a person, NASA officials say. (To be clear: that's the odds that any of the wreckage will hit any of the planet's 7 billion people, not the odds of hitting any specific person.)


NASA’s current projections show that the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite – or UARS (pronounced: YOU-arz) if you want to sound cool – will finally succumb to the Earth’s gravity in the next several days, with an expected impact on Friday.

But, as the Washington Post explains, even actual rocket scientists can’t say for certain when – or where – impact will occur:

Out-of-control crashing satellites don’t lend themselves to exact estimates even for the precision-minded folks at NASA. The uncertainty about the “when” makes the “where” all the trickier, because a small change in the timing of the reentry translates into thousands of miles of difference in the crash site.
NASA officials have said that the drop zone for the UARS could be anywhere between the latitudes of northern Canada and southern South America, an area that includes pretty much the entire planet. Still, they say that the chances that someone will be injured during the impact is extremely remote and that, most likely, the satellite will land with a splash in a body of water, according to Space.com.


The satellite is expected to partially burn up during reentry, but plenty of space souvenirs will likely survive. Scientists predict the satellite will break into about 100 pieces, with about a quarter of them likely to remain after the re-entry burn. The largest surviving piece could weigh as much as 300 pounds


http://slatest.slate.com/posts/2011/09/1...riday.html

P7PSP

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Re: Falling Satellite
« Reply #1 on: September 19, 2011, 05:44:42 PM »
I told them when they sent it up, but did they listen?  :laugh:

Offline skyblue1

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Re: Falling Satellite
« Reply #2 on: September 19, 2011, 05:55:01 PM »
I told them when they sent it up, but did they listen?  :laugh:
they probably said "who the fuck are you, and why should we care. we just put it up there. god brings it down."

P7PSP

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Re: Falling Satellite
« Reply #3 on: September 19, 2011, 06:41:24 PM »
I told them when they sent it up, but did they listen?  :laugh:
they probably said "who the fuck are you, and why should we care. we just put it up there. god brings it down."
:indeed: Just like Steve McQueen in Towering Inferno.  :lol:

Offline "couldbecousin"

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Re: Falling Satellite
« Reply #4 on: September 19, 2011, 06:53:15 PM »
I told them when they sent it up, but did they listen?  :laugh:
they probably said "who the fuck are you, and why should we care. we just put it up there. god brings it down."
:indeed: Just like Steve McQueen in Towering Inferno.  :lol:

 Or Randy Quaid in Independence Day.  :zoinks:
"I'm finding a lot of things funny lately, but I don't think they are."
--- Ripley, Alien Resurrection


"We are grateful for the time we have been given."
--- Edward Walker, The Village

People forget.
--- The Who, "Eminence Front"

P7PSP

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Re: Falling Satellite
« Reply #5 on: September 19, 2011, 06:55:17 PM »
I told them when they sent it up, but did they listen?  :laugh:
they probably said "who the fuck are you, and why should we care. we just put it up there. god brings it down."
:indeed: Just like Steve McQueen in Towering Inferno.  :lol:

 Or Randy Quaid in Independence Day.  :zoinks:
That movie sucked, but I really like Randy Quaid, at least before he went off the deep end. He really should stop using crank.

Offline "couldbecousin"

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Re: Falling Satellite
« Reply #6 on: September 19, 2011, 06:57:20 PM »
I told them when they sent it up, but did they listen?  :laugh:
they probably said "who the fuck are you, and why should we care. we just put it up there. god brings it down."
:indeed: Just like Steve McQueen in Towering Inferno.  :lol:

 Or Randy Quaid in Independence Day.  :zoinks:
That movie sucked, but I really like Randy Quaid, at least before he went off the deep end. He really should stop using crank.

 Once again you are WRONG, Independence Day  is awesome!  :hyke:
"I'm finding a lot of things funny lately, but I don't think they are."
--- Ripley, Alien Resurrection


"We are grateful for the time we have been given."
--- Edward Walker, The Village

People forget.
--- The Who, "Eminence Front"

Offline skyblue1

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Re: Falling Satellite
« Reply #7 on: September 19, 2011, 06:58:20 PM »
I told them when they sent it up, but did they listen?  :laugh:
they probably said "who the fuck are you, and why should we care. we just put it up there. god brings it down."
:indeed: Just like Steve McQueen in Towering Inferno.  :lol:

 Or Randy Quaid in Independence Day.  :zoinks:
That movie sucked, but I really like Randy Quaid, at least before he went off the deep end. He really should stop using crank.

 Once again you are WRONG, Independence Day  is awesome!  :hyke:
:agreed: :indeed:

Offline skyblue1

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Re: Falling Satellite
« Reply #8 on: September 19, 2011, 06:59:27 PM »
I told them when they sent it up, but did they listen?  :laugh:
they probably said "who the fuck are you, and why should we care. we just put it up there. god brings it down."
:indeed: Just like Steve McQueen in Towering Inferno.  :lol:

 Or Randy Quaid in Independence Day.  :zoinks:
That movie sucked, but I really like Randy Quaid, at least before he went off the deep end. He really should stop using crank.
dont blame the crank

Offline earthboundmisfit

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Re: Falling Satellite
« Reply #9 on: September 19, 2011, 08:12:32 PM »


Once again you are WRONG, Independence Day  is awesome!  :hyke:


It's a good movie, but the old drunk cropduster stereotype is a bit old.

Offline "couldbecousin"

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Re: Falling Satellite
« Reply #10 on: September 19, 2011, 08:17:43 PM »


Once again you are WRONG, Independence Day  is awesome!  :hyke:


It's a good movie, but the old drunk cropduster stereotype is a bit old.

 Actually that was the first old drunk cropduster I'd ever seen!   :plane:
"I'm finding a lot of things funny lately, but I don't think they are."
--- Ripley, Alien Resurrection


"We are grateful for the time we have been given."
--- Edward Walker, The Village

People forget.
--- The Who, "Eminence Front"

Osensitive1

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Re: Falling Satellite
« Reply #11 on: September 19, 2011, 08:34:08 PM »
*Crosses fingers and makes mental note to check yard for debris on friday*

Offline 'andersom'

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Re: Falling Satellite
« Reply #12 on: September 20, 2011, 01:29:13 AM »
*Crosses fingers and makes mental note to check yard for debris on friday*

Don't check before Friday is over.  :orly:
I can do upside down chocolate moo things!

P7PSP

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Re: Falling Satellite
« Reply #13 on: September 20, 2011, 01:30:42 AM »
*Crosses fingers and makes mental note to check yard for debris on friday*

Don't check before Friday is over.  :orly:
:laugh:

Offline Parts

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Re: Falling Satellite
« Reply #14 on: September 20, 2011, 07:58:13 AM »
Evidently stuff like this happens a lot just not as high a profile
Quote
It's likely that 50 to 200 "large" pieces of manmade space debris return to Earth every year, according to the Center for Orbital and Reentry Debris Studies. Bill Ailor, the center's director, like those at NASA's Johnson Space Center, said he was asked by the government not to comment specifically on the current satellite re-entry issue.

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