NASA satellite to fall to Earth on Friday
September 20th, 2011 - 7:08 pm ICT by Aishwarya BhattNew York, Sept 20 (THAINDIAN NEWS) Scientists from NASA say the 5.4 ton Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) will fall to the planet on Friday. Scientists say the satellite will explode on reentry to the planet and the debris from the damaged satellite will be scattered over vast areas. It is currently not clear which parts of the world will be hit by the debris.
It is estimated that the odds that the debris will hit a person is one in 3,200. The total mass of the debris is expected to be 540kg.
UARS was launched into space in 1991. The satellite which studies chemicals in the atmosphere was decommissioned in 2005 and it has since been losing altitude. The reentry will mark the end of an era for NASA with regards to their study of space.
NASA says at least one satellite falls into the planet every year but there has been no death associated with falling satellite.
Officials say the satellite might fall earlier than expected or later. That means the satellite can struck the planet on Thursday or Saturday.
Russia’s Mir fell unto earth in 2001 but it failed to hurt anyone.
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Tags: altitude, atmosphere research satellite, chemicals in the atmosphere, debris, earth, nasa, nasa satellite, odds, reentry, russia, scientists, space nasa, uars, upper atmosphere research