NASA Satellite Falls Back To Earth; Landfall in Canada 62
CNET, among many other sources, reports that the declining orbit of the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite has declined all the way; the satellite reentered and broke up in Earth's atmosphere last night, though the exact time, and thus location, of the reentry was unknown at the time. CNET quotes NASA's release, which says the satellite "fell back to Earth between 11:23 p.m. EDT Friday, Sept. 23, and 1:09 a.m. EDT Sept. 24." The Christian Science Monitor has a newer story, which reports that at least some debris from the satellite hit land in Okotoks, Canada, with no injuries. NASA's Science Office page on the satellite (not yet updated to account for the deorbit) says the satellite was launched in 1991, with a planned operational life of three years.
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For the first time in /. history, a slashvertisement is actually topical, relevant and points to something actually cool.
Celebrate this moment, it won't come again soon.
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Poor Canada, they seem to keep getting hit (Score:4, Interesting)
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Actually, it was paid. By the listeners of a radio show [esperanceexpress.com.au] that donated the 400 bucks to help the struggling NASA.
I can see why NASA didn't pay, avoiding to create a precedent for possibly higher claims, but it looks really badly if a reputable organization has to rely on donations to pay its litter bills...
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I can see why NASA didn't pay, avoiding to create a precedent for possibly higher claims, but it looks really badly if a reputable organization has to rely on donations to pay its litter bills...
Yes indeed, littering can be a problem [arlo.net].
send in mulder and scully to check it out! (Score:1)
send in mulder and scully to check it out!
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Ok... it's probably ~2% of the total area of the Earth (or ~6.5% if we exclude ocean). (If my math are correct)
Okotoks Video A Hoax (Score:4, Informative)
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I live in Okotoks and can confirm that it is still here.
I am sad that this is likely a hoax. For a moment I thought I was actually close to such an event!
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Whiplash, I tell ya! (Score:2)
Space Liability Convention, which has provisions for fallen satellites, so if there's any actual damage from this, the US will need to pay Canada.
Great, so now we'll have a bunch of Canucks wearing neck braces walking with limps lining up in court hoping for a windfall?
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You forgot to list that Russian dude crash landing there a few months ago.
IIRC there was a documentary about it.
I guess Calgary dodged a bullet!!! (Score:1)
Re:I know it's hard to calculate, but come on... (Score:4, Informative)
Maybe you should pass your real time updated upper atmosphere model on to them. The time from when the satellite hit the upper atmosphere to when it hits the ground is measured in minutes not many 10's of minutes or hours. With it tumbling and no longer transmitting there's no way to accurately state it's altitude even if you did have a real time upper atmosphere model. There's simply no way to inform people in real time because there's no way to know in real time. Even if you constantly updated it by the time the info was passed on that entry had occurred it would already be on the ground (or darn soon afterward).
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Are you suggesting that the GP doesn't actually have a working prediction model of the Sun's activity and its interaction with Earth's atmosphere? Why, that would mean he's just talking out his uars.
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Not Canada... ocean west of Australia? (Score:3)
ABC and Fox News are now reporting that, although it may have started breaking up over Calgary, it seems that it went down in the ocean west of Australia. Guess we're gonna have to wait and see...
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Canada? Australia?
Given the involvement of ex-British colonies, I'd say this is all an MI-6 covert operation.
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I shot a rocket into the air (Score:2)
I shot a rocket into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where
Until next day, with rage profound,
The man it fell on came around.
In less time than it takes to tell,
He showed me where that rocket fell;
And now I do not greatly care
To shoot more rockets in the air.
(Tom Masson, 1866-1943)
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We shot a rocket in the air
We fear it fell to earth somewhere
Though we were aiming for the moon
Red China claims we hit Kowloon
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"Once the rockets are up, who cares where they come down?
That's not my department," says Wernher von Braun.
Vulcan (Score:2)
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Maybe this is a *CRAZY* conspiracy theory but I think NASA was trying to take out the Enterprise in nearby Vulcan.
Maybe this is a *CRAZY* conspiracy theory?
No, NASA doesn't need to help with that. The town of Vulcan's mayor's trying to kill every connection between the town and ST. Killjoy.
Video of Re-entry (Score:2)
is here [youtube.com]. Not the best camera in the world (I think he said iPhone) but it clearly captures the break-up and large pieces burning.
As of now, YouTube is significantly ahead of NASA and Air Force intelligence (it has a much larger workforce).
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Clearly captures
I don't think those words mean what you think they mean.
If I look at it in full screen I see something that could be a satellite disintegration but could also be a plane running into some clouds or some confused fireflies.
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is here [youtube.com]. Not the best camera in the world (I think he said iPhone) but it clearly captures the break-up and large pieces burning.
As of now, YouTube is significantly ahead of NASA and Air Force intelligence (it has a much larger workforce).
And much less reliable workforce. First to news does not mean it's right, which is why we still need a professional news media, not a bunch of yahoos with cameras.
If a satellite falls... (Score:2)
...in a forest in Canada, does anybody notice?
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Real life imitates art? (Score:2)
Anyone familiar with the Pioneer One indie series? If the RCMP happens to find a cosmonaut inside what's left of that satellite, it's time to be worried!
Weird (Score:2)
I been watching the decent on a app on my phone, currently it shows it a altitude of 135 km. I was watching it since Friday when it was at 180 km. Was going to try and watch if when it hits 100 to 120 and see how fast it decelerated. Guess its not a real time app. (Satellite Tracker 1.5) I tried to see it last night when it was passing within view between 8:17 and 8:24 pm. But alas was not able to see it.
The earth is flat and ends just on border of US (Score:1)
We can track ICBMs but not a crashing satellite? (Score:1)
What is? (Score:1)