Space: NASA satellite expected to hit Earth this week

The sky is not falling. A 12,500-pound NASA satellite the size of a school bus is, however. It’s the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite, and it’s currently tumbling in orbit and succumbing to Earth’s gravity. It will crash to the surface Friday. Or maybe Thursday. Or Saturday.

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.

As of the moment, NASA says the 35-foot-long satellite will crash somewhere between 57 degrees north latitude and 57 degrees south latitude — a projected crash zone that covers most of the planet, and particularly the inhabited parts. In this hemisphere, that includes everyone living between northern Newfoundland and the frigid ocean beyond the last point of land in South America.

Polar bears and Antarctic scientists are safe.

It’s the biggest piece of NASA space junk to fall to Earth in more than 30 years. It should create a light show. The satellite will partially burn up during reentry and, by NASA’s calculation, break into about 100 pieces, creating fireballs that should be visible even in daytime.

An estimated 26 of those pieces will survive the re-entry burn and will spray themselves in a linear debris field 500 miles long. The largest chunk should weigh about 300 pounds.

As the Friday-ish crash gets closer, NASA will refine its estimate of timing and location, but the fudge factor will remain high.

“There are too many variations on solar activity which affect the atmosphere, the drag on the vehicle,” said Nicholas Johnson, chief scientist for orbital debris at NASA. He said that when NASA estimates that the satellite is two hours away from hitting Earth, there will still be a margin of error of 25 minutes.

Some thirteen centuries ago, it was clearly mentioned in the Holy Quran:

And the heaven We built with Our own powers (aydin) and indeed We go on expanding it (musi'un). [Holy Quran, 51:48]


The Ahmadiyya Post, Space. By Zubair Ahmed. Sept 19, 2011