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Satellite falling to Earth, but don't panic
By Cai Wenjun |
September 23, 2011, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
A 6-TON, 20-year-old US satellite is due to enter the Earth's atmosphere sometime tomorrow morning but the United States will be spared, according to NASA.
The satellite will not be passing over North America during that time, their Friday.
However, it was still too early to predict the exact time and location of re-entry with any more certainty, NASA said.
Nasa said the risk of debris from the UARS, or Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite, hitting anyone is just 1 in 3,200 but it could land anywhere between 57 degrees north and 57 degrees south of the equator - most of the populated world.
However, much of it will burn up before it reaches the Earth's surface, NASA said.
But scientists say 26 separate pieces could survive re-entry and debris could rain across an area up to 500 kilometers wide.
Nasa said more accurate predictions about where the satellite might land could only be made two hours before re-entry.
"The risk to public safety or property is extremely small, and safety is NASA's top priority," NASA said earlier. "Since the beginning of the Space Age in the late 1950s, there have been no confirmed reports of an injury resulting from re-entering space objects. Nor is there a record of significant property damage resulting from a satellite re-entry."
Tang Haiming from Shanghai Astronomical Observatory of Chinese Academy of Sciences said yesterday that there had been no instructions to monitor the satellite.
"The route can be easily influenced by a lot of factors in space. It is very difficult for scientists to predict its route currently," Tang said. "So far no authorities estimate the scattered satellite pieces will hit Shanghai. Local people needn't panic."
Launched in 1991 on a space shuttle mission, the satellite measured upper air chemistry, including monitoring the depleted ozone layer, and gauging the effects of the sun's solar cycle on the atmosphere.
The satellite will not be passing over North America during that time, their Friday.
However, it was still too early to predict the exact time and location of re-entry with any more certainty, NASA said.
Nasa said the risk of debris from the UARS, or Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite, hitting anyone is just 1 in 3,200 but it could land anywhere between 57 degrees north and 57 degrees south of the equator - most of the populated world.
However, much of it will burn up before it reaches the Earth's surface, NASA said.
But scientists say 26 separate pieces could survive re-entry and debris could rain across an area up to 500 kilometers wide.
Nasa said more accurate predictions about where the satellite might land could only be made two hours before re-entry.
"The risk to public safety or property is extremely small, and safety is NASA's top priority," NASA said earlier. "Since the beginning of the Space Age in the late 1950s, there have been no confirmed reports of an injury resulting from re-entering space objects. Nor is there a record of significant property damage resulting from a satellite re-entry."
Tang Haiming from Shanghai Astronomical Observatory of Chinese Academy of Sciences said yesterday that there had been no instructions to monitor the satellite.
"The route can be easily influenced by a lot of factors in space. It is very difficult for scientists to predict its route currently," Tang said. "So far no authorities estimate the scattered satellite pieces will hit Shanghai. Local people needn't panic."
Launched in 1991 on a space shuttle mission, the satellite measured upper air chemistry, including monitoring the depleted ozone layer, and gauging the effects of the sun's solar cycle on the atmosphere.
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