Flying today? Beware of UARS
A six-tonne, 20-year-old spacecraft that has fallen out of orbit is expected to crash somewhere on Earth on or about September 24.
The US space agency says the risk to life from the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) is 1 in 3,200.
NASA said scientists would only be able to make more accurate predictions about where the satellite might land two hours before it enters the Earth’s atmosphere.
NASA says that most of the satellite will break or burn up before reaching Earth.
Reassuringly, agency officials stress that nobody has ever been hurt by objects re-entering from space. Although, in 1979, that didn’t stop Americans seeking refuge in the mountains as the space station Skylab was dropping out of space.
Eventually, pieces of Skylab crashed onto Esperance in Western Australia after the craft broke up over the Indian Ocean.
The local shire council fined the United States $400 for littering. The fine was paid in April 2009, when a radio show host raised the funds from his morning show listeners, and paid the fine on behalf of NASA.
The Mole hopes lighting doesn’t strike twice. Today he will be flying over Esperance on the way to Melbourne.
Ian Jarrett
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