The sky is falling- on Friday - maybe

Latest estimates have the impact footprint over the pacific waay west of Chile. No light show unless some one gets some shots at sea. Big bloody blow comming on shore this afternoon anyway. First day of Fall, first winter storm.
 
yeah the satellite did some 'braking' yesterday if i recall, managed to slow itself down which is kinda like doing a de-orbit/Retrograde burn in the Rockwell STS, except in the Shuttle it faces so it's travelling backwards to it's orbital path, then several burns are performed, this slows the unit and as a result it starts to 'fall' and corrects then re-enters, this satellite somehow managed to slow itself, which has moved the re-entry point and the 'landing' location as a result... gotta love 'space stuff' as my father puts it :icon_lol: but we've still gotta ask... why was it up there? it's been idle since 2005, they could have brought it down sooner but it's propellant is gone, still at least it's more interesting news than the usual drivel :icon_lol:
 
This just in..... http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44632366/ns/technology_and_science-space/?GT1=43001

Put your hardhats on......... really big ones. ;)

"There is a low probability any debris that survives re-entry will land in the United States, but the possibility cannot be discounted because of this changing rate of descent."

NASA expects about 26 large pieces of the UARS spacecraft to survive re-entry through Earth's atmosphere and reach the planet's surface. The biggest piece should weigh about 300 pounds (150 kilograms)."
 
Its tumbling and grazing the top of the atomosphere, erratic deceleration rates. no way to get an accurate plot. I beleive UARS was not deorbited as there is not enough hydrazine left in the maneouvering system to perform a controlled deorbit, or it may have gone dead. So maybe we will get a light show after all!
 
would now be the time to say "i told ya!"

observers in the UK MIGHT (if it happens tonight) be treated to a streak across the sky from North -West to South-East across the sky according to BBC news.... :salute:
 
"As of 7 p.m. EDT on Sept. 23, 2011, the orbit of UARS was 90 miles by 95 miles (145 km by 150 km). Re-entry is expected between 11 p.m. Friday, Sept. 23, and 3 a.m., Sept. 24, Eastern Daylight Time (3 a.m. to 7 a.m. GMT). 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 risk to public safety is very remote."
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/uars/index.html

The n2yo.com server is so overloaded that it's been difficult to access for the last 48 hours so track information is .. pffft

Maybe I'll stay up since it's clear and warm tonight if I can get any track data
 
You can all come out now. A report on the 23:00PDT news states that UARS re-entered over Canada. No other data- it was a news broadcast; after all- no track data. But this is a country with a whole lotta not much in it. If it came down over Ottawa...well; even more so. We know it did not hit B.C, as nothing falling out of the sky could miss Christy Clarks ego!
 
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