3.5 Ton Satellite to Crash Back to Earth 323
DeadBugs writes "CNN is reporting that the NASA Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer could crash back to earth in a matter of days. It's estimated that up to 9 large pieces (4-100 lbs.) of the Satellite could survive re-entry. Unlike the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory that was guided in, this Satellite will be uncontrolled. The EUVE has only been up there since 1992.... I wonder when this sort of thing will start to be a more common event."
Re:first post (Score:3, Informative)
The article did mention that the trail from this thing could stretch up to 625 miles. They also said that the parts that won't burn up are made out of titanium and steel. Seeing as Titanium is really expensive, if all of it hit me in the head; at least I could sell it to pay for the medical bills!
Incoming! (Score:5, Informative)
I believe US Space Command/NASA/NORAD spends a ton of time tracking objects in close orbit, even very small ones the size of your finger.
After all, anything going 17500 miles per hour hitting something like the space shuttle or Hubble or any other satellite (GPS, communications, spy/defense) wouldn't be pretty.
Someone who worked for NASA at MSFC told me that they have actually had astronauts on the space shuttle change the shuttle's orbit slightly in order to avoid certain large pieces of debris.
Re:ianae but... (Score:2, Informative)
From an engineering perspective (as in IAAES), I'd say that it makes sense to cut initial costs by designing the thing for a short lifespan. If it only needs to be in orbit for ten years, then why bother over-engineering it for more? The costs would go through the roof. Maintaining anything in space after that term is expensive enough on it's own. It's a better idea to build another one and send it up after a set time.
3.5 tons of material isn't much anyways, it will come back to Earth. Big deal. We could only hope that it would land in the backyard of a certain resident of Holland, MI.
info (Score:5, Informative)
EUVE Home (UCal. Berkeley) [berkeley.edu]
Info on satellite tracking here [satobs.org]. Track the orbit, and place bets on where it will land. (note, the farthest north is someplace in florida.)
Re:Incoming! (Score:2, Informative)
Someone who worked for NASA at MSFC told me that they have actually had astronauts on the space shuttle change the shuttle's orbit slightly in order to avoid certain large pieces of debris.
If you watch the news when the shuttle is up, notice it is ALWAYS flying backwards (except for reentry) pebble size objects ping it constantly and the windshields get so damaged they are replaced every launch ($40,000).
Mission control plans the routes so that no human has to attempt the maneuvering you are speaking of. All happens far to fast.
Re:Incoming! (Score:5, Informative)
It's pretty cool actually, you can open their anaylisis program and plot x; where x = the chronological number from 1 = Sputnik of the satellite launched, for a bunch of nice apogee/perigee/period/distance/elevation graphs. plot (some number I don't remember, and is probably classified anyway) plotted Mir, and the graphing was so accurate you could literally picture in your mind the space station flying around in closer and closer spirals until perigee=0 and reentry.
But anyways-yes, they do track the stuff. And yes, they do course correct. A lot more than you might think too.
Re:Incoming! (Score:2, Informative)
Quick google, straight from NASA:
Source: http://www.wstf.nasa.gov/Hazard/Hyper/debris.htm
"Larger particles (objects greater than 10-cm in diameter) are being tracked and catalogued by USSPACECOM radar. Spacecraft and satellites can avoid collisions by maneuvering around the larger debris. For example, when a space shuttle is in orbit, the USSPACECOM regularly examines the trajectories of orbital debris to identify possible close encounters. If a catalogued object is projected to come within a few kilometers of the space shuttle, it will normally maneuver away from the object."
Also, further: http://see.msfc.nasa.gov/see/mod/modtech.html
Scroll down on that page. Left side. Headline articles.
Odds (Score:3, Informative)
Being killed in a car accident: one in 5,300
Being a drowning victim: one in 20,000
Choking to death: one in 68,000
Being killed in a bicycle accident: one in 75,000
Being killed by lightning: one in 2 million
Being killed by falling debris from a satellite: one in 4 million
Dying from a bee sting: one in 6 million
Winning the current Power Ball Jackpot of $10 million dollars: one in 80 million
Can you tell me how much it will rain tomorrow? (Score:5, Informative)
The weather in low earth orbit is just as unpredictable as the weather at the ground, and just as variable. The density of the atmosphere around satellites (and thus the drag force on them) can vary by an order of magnitude. If the satellite loses orientation (which it is essentially certain to as drag forces overcome tidal or powered stabilization) then its coefficient of drag changes as well, and unpredictably when it rotates. It may not even have just drag acting on it; even in orbit an angled surface can produce just as much lift as drag, and when the satellite hits the atmosphere its shape could produce more lift than drag.
And of course, for every second by which the atmosphere delays reentry, the satellite has moved 5 miles in its orbit. 5 mi/s * 3600 s/hr * 9 hr gives a nice 160,000 mile strip of possible landing sites, crossing around and around the whole globe. If you'd like to gamble about the probability of something being hit by one of the chunks, though, I suggest placing your money on "no".
Re:first post (Score:2, Informative)
J-Track 3D (Score:3, Informative)
NASA's got a cool little Java applet [nasa.gov] you can play with to see the satellites and their orbits.
It's a simulation based on posted data, I gather, rather than any kind of tracker, and I'm sure there are dozens of black satellites not listed, but it's still very neat. You can zoom in/out and around the earth, pick specific satellites from categories, changes the time speed, etc. There's also all the favourites such as the shuttle (when it's up), the ISS, Mir, Hubble, COBE, etc. You can also load a web page with more info about any given satellite, such as when it was launched, what it carries, and so on.
Enjoy!
insurance coverage (Score:3, Informative)
5. Aircraft, including self-propelled missiles and spacecraft.
Who knows, maybe my insurance company would go after the spacecraft designers/operators/whoever -- or, more likely, after their insurance agency.