Crashing satellite whacked into Asia, who got the HUAT?

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Scientist: Satellite must have crashed into Asia
JUERGEN BAETZ, Associated Press
Updated 10:58 a.m., Sunday, October 23, 2011

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Undated artist rendering provided by EADS Astrium shows the scientific satellite Rosat. The German Aerospace Center said the retired satellite is hurtling toward the atmosphere and pieces could crash into the earth during the weekend. Photo: EADS Astrium / AP
Undated artist rendering provided by EADS Astrium shows the scientific satellite Rosat. The German Aerospace Center said the retired satellite is hurtling toward the atmosphere and pieces could crash into the earth during the weekend. Photo: EADS Astrium / AP


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BERLIN (AP) — A defunct German research satellite crashed into the Earth somewhere in Southeast Asia on Sunday, U.S. scientist said — but no one is still quite sure where.

Most parts of the minivan-sized ROSAT research satellite were expected to burn up as they hit the atmosphere at speeds up to 280 mph (450 kph), but up to 30 fragments weighing a total of 1.87 tons (1.7 metric tons) could have crashed, the German Aerospace Center said.

Jonathan McDowell of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts, said the satellite appears to have gone down over Southeast Asia. He said two Chinese cities with millions of inhabitants each, Chongqing and Chengdu, had been in the satellite's projected path during its re-entry time.

"But if it had come down over a populated area there probably would be reports by now," the astrophysicist who tracks man-made space objects told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.

Calculations based on data made available to scientists by the U.S. military indicate that satellite debris must have crashed somewhere east of Sri Lanka over the Indian Ocean, or over the Andaman Sea off the coast of Myanmar, or further inland in Myanmar or as far inland as China, he said.

The satellite entered the atmosphere between 0145 GMT to 0215 GMT Sunday (9:45 p.m. to 10:15 p.m. Saturday EDT) and would have taken 15 minutes or less to hit the ground, the German Aerospace Center said. Hours before the re-entry, the center said the satellite was not expected to land in Europe, Africa or Australia.

There were no immediate reports from Asian governments or space agencies about the fallen satellite.

The satellite used to circle the planet in about 90 minutes, and it may have traveled several thousand kilometers (miles) during its re-entry, rendering exact predictions of where it crashed difficult.

German space agency spokesman Andreas Schuetz said a falling satellite also can change its flight pattern or even its direction once it sinks to within 90 miles (150 kilometers) above the Earth.

Schuetz said the agency was waiting for data from scientific partners around the globe. He noted it took the U.S. space agency NASA several days to establish where one of its satellites had hit last month.

The 2.69-ton (2.4 metric ton) scientific ROSAT satellite was launched in Cape Canaveral, Florida, in 1990 and retired in 1999 after being used for research on black holes and neutron stars and performing the first all-sky survey of X-ray sources with an imaging telescope.

ROSAT's largest single fragment that could have hit is the telescope's heavy heat-resistant mirror.

"The impact would be similar to, say, an airliner having dropped an engine," said McDowell. "It would damage whatever it fell on, but it wouldn't have widespread consequences."

A dead NASA satellite fell into the southern Pacific Ocean last month, causing no damage but spreading debris over a 500-mile (800-kilometer) area.

Since 1991, space agencies have adopted new procedures to lessen space junk and having satellites falling back to Earth. NASA says it has no more large satellites that will fall back to Earth uncontrolled in the next 25 years.

___

Online:

The German space agency on ROSAT: http://bit.Iy/papMAA

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...tellite-ROSAT-crash-lands-earth-WHERE-it.html

German satellite crash lands on earth after returning at 280mph... but WHERE is it?

Up to 30 fragments weighing a total of 1.87 tons could have crashed
Scientists not yet sure where research satellite entered atmosphere
Recalculated flight path suggests it could have crashed above Asia
But odds of any individual being struck are only one in 14 trillion

By Mark Duell

Last updated at 6:08 PM on 23rd October 2011

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A German research satellite last night returned to earth at up to 280mph - but nobody knows where.

Scientists are trying to establish how and where the satellite landed on Saturday night, after warning that some parts might survive re-entry and crash at high speeds.

There is no immediate solid evidence to determine above which continent or country the ROSAT scientific research satellite entered the atmosphere, said the German Aerospace Center (GAC) said.
Artist's impression: Scientists are trying to establish how and where the German research satellite landed on Saturday night, after warning that some parts might survive re-entry and crash at high speeds

Artist's impression: Scientists are trying to establish how and where the German research satellite landed on Saturday night, after warning that some parts might survive re-entry and crash at high speeds

Most parts of the minivan-sized satellite were expected to burn up, but up to 30 fragments weighing a total of 1.87 tons could have crashed.

The German Aerospace Center said the satellite entered the atmosphere between 9:45 pm and 10:15pm Eastern Time on Saturday and would have taken only 10 or 15 minutes to hit the ground.

The agency said it could take days to determine exactly where pieces of the satellite had fallen, but that it has not received any reports that it had hit any populated areas.


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‘I don't think that we'll have a confirmation of any sort today,’ the GAC spokesman said on Sunday, pointing out it also took NASA several days to establish where one of its satellites had hit last month.

Scientists said hours before the re-entry into the atmosphere that the satellite was not expected to hit over Europe, Africa or Australia.

According to a recalculated path it could have been above Asia, possibly China, at the time of its re-entry, but the spokesman said he could not confirm that.
Bus-sized: Nasa's six-ton Upper Atmospheric Research Satellite made its final fiery plunge into the Earth's atmosphere last month

Bus-sized: Nasa's six-ton Upper Atmospheric Research Satellite made its final fiery plunge into the Earth's atmosphere last month

The 2.69-ton satellite was launched in 1990 and retired in 1999 after researching black holes and neutron stars and performing the first all-sky survey of x-ray sources with an imaging telescope.
Fears subsided over NASA satellite

A dead NASA satellite fell into the southern Pacific Ocean last month, causing no damage, despite fears it would hit a populated area and cause damage or kill people.

Experts believe about two dozen metal pieces from the bus-sized satellite fell over a 500-mile span.

The largest single fragment that could hit into the earth is the telescope's heat-resistant mirror.

During its mission, the satellite orbited about 370 miles above the Earth's surface, but after its decommissioning it lost altitude, circling at a distance of only 205 miles above ground in June for example, the agency said.

Even in the last days, the satellite still circled the planet every 90 minutes, making it hard to predict where on Earth it would eventually come down.

The German space agency put the odds of somebody somewhere on Earth being hurt by its satellite at one in 2,000 - a slightly higher level of risk than was calculated for the NASA satellite (see box).

But any one individual's odds of being struck were one in 14 trillion, given there are 7 billion people on the planet.