Satellite Out of Fuel, Falls to Earth

By Admin
Its a bird, its a plane, its… a giant satellite crashing down to Earth! Yes, NASAs decommissioned Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) is...

 

It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s… a giant satellite crashing down to Earth!  Yes, NASA’s decommissioned Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) is falling out of its orbit and is expected to crash into the planet any time now.  Unfortunately, we don’t know when or where.

The UARS ran out of fuel in 2005.  NASA controllers used the last of its fuel to lower one side of the satellite’s orbit to facilitate a hastier re-entry.  But with no more fuel available, the satellite’s re-entry will be uncontrollable.

SEE OTHER TOP STORIES IN THE WDM CONTENT NETWORK

CERN says Neutrinos Faster than Speed of Light

Iran's First Nuclear Power Plant Comes Online

Read the latest issue of Energy Digital!

The six ton satellite has baffled scientists, however, by slowing down its decent, delaying its crash time.  NASA officials now claim the satellite will hit sometime late Friday night or early Saturday morning (Eastern Time). 

"It is still too early to predict the time and location of re-entry with any certainty," NASA said in a statement.

The satellite is expected to break into more than one hundred pieces as it descends through Earth’s atmosphere, and most of those pieces will burn off, never reaching the ground.  However, there will be about 26 pieces of debris representing a total of 1,200 pounds of heavy metal, that will crash to Earth and the space agency has put forth a figure of 1 in 3,200 odds of someone somewhere on Earth being hurt.  The actual odds of a single person getting hurt are more akin to 1 in 22 trillion.

Share

Featured Articles

Who is Greg Joiner, the new Head of Shell Energy?

Joiner will be formally be appointed as Shell Energy’s EVP on 1 April following a reshuffle of the division's top team

Watershed Workshop at Sustainability LIVE: Net Zero

Hosted on Day 1 of Sustainability LIVE: Net Zero, Watershed’s session was overflowing with ideas that apply to supply chain decarbonisation

Capgemini Invent Workshop at Sustainability LIVE: Net Zero

Explore how Capgemini Invent's workshop on Day 1 of Sustainability LIVE: Net Zero delved into climate adaptation & social sustainability for futureproofing

Energy Highlights from Sustainability LIVE: Net Zero

Sustainability

Sustainability LIVE: Leading ESG and Net Zero

Sustainability

International Women’s Day: Women in Energy with Julia Souder

Renewable Energy