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Space Litter To Hit Earth Tomorrow
Posted by
kdawson
on Sat Nov 01, 2008 04:39 PM
from the leave-only-memories-take-only-footprints dept.
from the leave-only-memories-take-only-footprints dept.
A refrigerator-sized tank of toxic ammonia, tossed from the international space station last year, is expected to hit earth tomorrow afternoon or evening. The 1,400-pound object was deliberately jettisoned — by hand — from the ISS's robot arm in July 2007. Since the time of re-entry is uncertain, so is the location. "NASA expects up to 15 pieces of the tank to survive the searing hot temperatures of re-entry, ranging in size from about 1.4 ounces (40 grams) to nearly 40 pounds (17.5 kilograms). ... [T]he largest pieces could slam into the Earth's surface at about 100 mph (161 kph). ...'If anybody found a piece of anything on the ground Monday morning, I would hope they wouldn't get too close to it,' [a NASA spokesman] said."
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Cloudy (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Cloudy (Score:5, Funny)
Space trash wins. Next question.
Parent
Re:Cloudy (Score:5, Informative)
"The Early Ammonia Servicer (EAS) is a very large, 1400 pound tank of ammonia that was used to cool electronics on the International Space Station (ISS). When a permanent cooling system was installed, the EAS was thrown overboard by spacewalking astronaut Clayton Anderson on July 23, 2007. NASA does not normally dispose of debris by throwing it overboard. The risk of collision with the International Space Station or another satellite does not justify the ease of disposing of debris this way. In the case of the Early Ammonia Servicer, it was too heavy and dangerous (because of the ammonia) to return to Earth in the Space Shuttle, and throwing it overboard was the only option. The EAS has been in a slowly decaying orbit since then." - blatantly copied from an email I received earlier today on this subject.
Parent
Re:Cloudy (Score:4, Informative)
Parent
Re:Cloudy (Score:5, Funny)
So NASA is raining down piss waste on us all.
Yep, sounds like the government at work all right.
Parent
Re:Cloudy (Score:5, Funny)
17 kg at 160 kph could hit the earth anywhere?
What if it hits SOMETHING, like a car in the highway or an airplane?
A Boeing 747 with mass 340,000 kg takes off from JFK airport at 3:00 pm and heads towards Los Angeles at a cruising speed of 800 kph. A refrigerator-sized tank of toxic ammonia with mass 17 kg jettisoned from the ISS 560 days prior is about to achieve re-entry at 160 kph. Where and when will they meet?
I hate these stupid questions.
Parent
Re:Cloudy (Score:5, Funny)
This sunday, Sunday, SUNDAY at The Coliseum!
Parent
Re:Cloudy (Score:4, Funny)
To be honest, my daughter thought I was crazy...
In her algebra class, she got the "Train Question"! I was so excited!
Parent
Re:Cloudy (Score:5, Funny)
Newton.
Parent
Re:Cloudy (Score:4, Funny)
Parent
Re:Cloudy (Score:5, Funny)
It's not gravity; it's Intelligent Falling. Science can try to explain, but if science is real, then why is there no fossil record for gravity?
See, you've got no answer for that, so therefore I win.
Parent
Re:Cloudy (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Re:Cloudy (Score:4, Interesting)
Parent
Re:Cloudy (Score:5, Insightful)
There's an old saying that no matter how good a driver you are, you have to worry about all the other idiots on the road. However you still have some degree of control; I can to a certain extent spot crap drivers and give them a wide berth, or be mentally prepared for their craptitude which can shave a litle off the reaction time when I need to take evasive action.
If a lump of random spacecrap is going to land on you, it's going to land on you. There's sod all you can do about it. I doubt the prediction is timely and accurate enough that you could get the heck away or shelter in a basement when it hits.
Parent
"toxic ammonia"? (Score:5, Funny)
As opposed to that non-toxic, safe-to-eat, oh-so-good-for-you ammonia they sell down at the cleaning supplies store?
Re:"toxic ammonia"? (Score:5, Interesting)
I've yet to meet any non-Scandinavian that likes it, though apparently they sell they stuff in the Netherlands and Germany too.
Parent
Re:"toxic ammonia"? (Score:5, Informative)
Ammonium chloride is not even slightly like ammonia, in the same way that table salt is not even slightly like chlorine gas.
Parent
Re:"toxic ammonia"? (Score:5, Funny)
Is idiocy a prerequisite for getting mod points?
No, but it helps! After all, I've been modded up quite a few times over the years...
Parent
Re:"toxic ammonia"? (Score:5, Funny)
Yeah, it's called salmiak and it's probably an acquired taste. I have heard of a person who said that it tasted like catpiss. But on the other hand, the Americans invented McDonalds so I guess that makes us even :)
Parent
Re:"toxic ammonia"? (Score:5, Funny)
I have heard of a person who said that it tasted like catpiss
I don't know anyone that knows what cat piss tastes like. Do you?
Parent
Re:"toxic ammonia"? (Score:5, Funny)
Windex is a lot less bad for you than cat piss. Believe me.
Of course ingesting either one is a seriously FUBUAR proposition, but I digress.
Parent
Re:"toxic ammonia"? (Score:5, Insightful)
Parent
Re:"toxic ammonia"? (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Current data on object (Score:5, Informative)
http://www.reentrynews.com/1998067ba.html [reentrynews.com]
Re:Current data on object (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Did anyone else think.... (Score:5, Interesting)
about how cool this is?
First, here is NASA being about as open about it as they can get. We dumped a toxic container out, and it might hit your house or spouse or both. Possible reason for joy?
Second, 50 years ago there was probably only two people on the entire planet that could have thought such a safety announcement would be put out with all the fame and glory of a news item about a fender bender in the WalMart parking lot!
I kind of look forward to news reports like this:
Space weather warning: Launch News- Today in the Southern Americas regions, the likelihood of debris showers is at Threat Level Orange. Expected drop zone is 15 miles off the coast of Peru as the StarLiner "Moses" launches for Alpha Centauri.
Between the hours of 13:00 GMT and 23:50 GMT, some pieces of the launch platform are expected to survive the searing heat of re-entry. It is possible for pieces up to 57 kilograms to reach the Earth's surface. Please contact the local constabulary for concerns about livestock. Normal insurance claim processes apply.
You all wanted flying cars. I want star cruisers and Earth 2.0.
Nasa Suess (Score:5, Funny)
A star is falling
With nasty goo
It's kinda sticky
It smells like poo
It may hit a house
It may hit a mouse
And if you don't look out
It will hit your spouse
But you can't duck
And you can't run
'Cause it's falling faster
Than a Bullet from a Gun
It might hit with a thud
Or a squishy "smoosh"
It may make a hole
Or knock out a tooth
Quickly Quickly!
Find somebody to sue
For the fast and smelly
Outer space goo!
Parent
A tinfoil hat moment... (Score:4, Interesting)
...'If anybody found a piece of anything on the ground Monday morning, I would hope they wouldn't get too close to it,' [a NASA spokesman] said."
Hmm...and why might that be? Some stray ammonia molecules might still be clinging to said pieces? I read somewhere (probably here) that meteorites are actually cool to the touch if they arrive on the ground intact. I don't recall pieces of Columbia starting fires upon impact.
So if temperature isn't the issue, why would a NASA spokesman make such an inane statement?
Andromeda strain (Score:4, Funny)
There mught be some alien microoganism clinging to the debris, that could clot all your blood in seconds (unless you're a wino with an ulcer taking asprin...)
Parent
Hrmm... (Score:5, Funny)
The World Will End? (Score:5, Funny)
Odds Of,,, (Score:5, Funny)
Considering the uncertainty of where it will hit, what does the /. community think would be a good line to place on any of these occuring:
1. Debris Hits John McCain in the head? /. anyway?
2. Debris Hits John McCain AND Sarah Palin in the head?
3. Debris hits Barak Obama in the head?
4. Debris Hits Barak Obama AND Joe Biden in the head?
5. Debris Hits George Bush in the head?
6. Debris Hits Osama bin Laden in the head?
7. Debris hits nobody in the head?
8. Debris hits nobody's house?
9. Debris causes zero real damage to everything?
10. Who cares what we talk about on
Hmmmmm..... (Score:5, Funny)
A single sheet of newspaper blows off my boat into the water and I get a $100 fine for littering.
NASA intentionally hurls a "refrigerator-sized tank of toxic ammonia" weighing 1400 pounds into the ocean and nothing happens to them.
Something doesn't add up.
Re:Landfall projection? (Score:4, Insightful)
Natural space junk of similar mass hits the Earth all the time. When was the last time you heard of anyone getting killed by a meteorite?
Parent
Re:Landfall projection? (Score:4, Interesting)
It's rare but being hit by metorites *does* happen. I can't find a recorded instance since 2002 (although there's a nice picture of a destroyed car [nasa.gov] from 1992 which probably doesn't count as it didn't hit a person.
Of course by the time it hits someone it's normally little more than a very hot pebble, and causes little more than some burning.
If something the size of a fridge hit you you'd feel a little bit more than a burning sensation!
Parent
Re:Landfall projection? (Score:4, Informative)
> It's rare but being hit by metorites *does* happen.
That's my point. six billion people, it's rare that any are hit by all that natural junk, and you are worried about this?
> If something the size of a fridge hit you you'd feel a little bit more than a burning
> sensation!
NASA says no pieces larger than 40lb.
Parent
Re:Landfall projection? (Score:4, Insightful)
I've wondered about this before. A good percentage of those six billion people are in places where it might not be reported if one of them were killed by something falling from above... how sure are we that it hasn't happened once or twice before and we just never heard about it?
Parent
Re:clue ? (Score:4, Funny)
I don't expect for people to RTFA here, but at least RTFS. It's not rocket science, you know.
Parent
Re:clue ? (Score:5, Informative)
TFA says the largest piece could be about 40 pounds and hit at 100 mph. That wouldn't dent your car, it would totally destroy it.
Parent
Re:clue ? (Score:5, Funny)
A 40 pound child is a little more...yielding than a 40 pound chunk of metal. Also, the 40 pound chunk of metal would presumably be falling on the car from above, not hitting the car head-on. So yah, it may not actually reduce the entire car to a smoking crater, but it would likely total it.
So, while I have no doubt you have plentiful experience striking 40 pound children with vehicles, I'm not sure that experience is directly applicable to the situation at hand.
Parent
Re:clue (Score:5, Funny)
So, while I have no doubt you have plentiful experience striking 40 pound children with vehicles, I'm not sure that experience is directly applicable to the situation at hand.
We start by assuming a perfectly spherical 40lb child of uniform density...
Parent
Re:clue (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Re:clue ? (Score:4, Funny)
M_car * V_car = (~1000 kg)(44.7 m/s) ~= 44700 kg*m/s
M_child * V_child = (~20 kg)(44.7 m/s) ~= 894 kg*m/s
The fact that the child is a lot more *squishy* than the car has little to do with it. If you want a comparable situation, think of throwing a turkey at 100mph at a parked car. I guarantee you that car's not going to come out looking to good.
Parent
Re:clue ? (Score:5, Funny)
> If you want a comparable situation, think of throwing a turkey at 100mph at a parked car. I guarantee you that car's not going to come out looking to good.
Is that a frozen or thawed turkey??
Parent
Re:clue ? (Score:5, Funny)
> If you want a comparable situation, think of throwing a turkey at 100mph at a parked car. I guarantee you that car's not going to come out looking to good.
Is that a frozen or thawed turkey??
That reminds me of the story about when they were testing high speed electric trains for what happens when a bird-strike occurs. To do this, they got hold of a linear accelerator, put a turkey in it, and fired it at the front of the train, head on. The bird went straight through the windscreen, the driver's seat, and embedded itself deep within the transformer block behind! To say that the train engineers were dismayed misses the point by a country mile, but they cheered up rather a lot when the realized that they'd forgotten to defrost the turkey first, and that repeating with a fresh bird resulted in a safe splat with no danger to human life.
I'll let someone else karma-whore with the link.
Parent
Re:clue ? (Score:4, Funny)
Parent
Re:Could/Should we push all the junk back at earth (Score:5, Funny)
Assuming a capable laser system, would a gentle laser push towards earth be a good way to clean up space junk? Would away from earth be better?
A laser which would simply annihilate the junk would be admittedly cooler, but could de-orbit be accomplished with much less power?
Last time I tried to get my car to roll backwards by turning on the headlights, it took a really long time....
Parent
Re:Could/Should we push all the junk back at earth (Score:5, Funny)
Last time I tried to get my car to roll backwards by turning on the headlights, it took a really long time....
Well next time, try taping some cardboard over the taillights or something.
Parent
Re:Could/Should we push all the junk back at earth (Score:5, Funny)
They don't have a big enough shark to mount the laser on at the moment.
Parent
Re:An important detail (Score:5, Funny)
I'm going to go out on a limb and say... yes, someone probably does.
Parent