Fallen ROSAT Satellite's Final Destination: The Bay of Bengal (VIDEO)
The fallen German satellite, ROSAT, made a fiery crash landing over the Bay of Bengal last Saturday night.
The defunct satellite reentered Earth sometime between 9:45 p.m. and 10:15 p.m. EDT. Its landing zone was located between the east cost of India and Indonesia.
There have been no reports regarding fallen debris or damage to property for the fallen satellite.
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The German Aerospace Center gave a statement on the final entry of ROSAT: "On 23 October 2011 at 03:50 CEST, the German research satellite ROSAT re-entered the atmosphere over the Bay of Bengal; it is not known whether any parts of the satellite reached Earth’s surface. Determination of the time and location of re-entry was based on the evaluation of data provided by international partners, including the USA."
Chairperson of the DLR Executive Board Johann-Dietrich Wörner said: "With the re-entry of ROSAT, one of the most successful German scientific space missions has been brought to its ultimate conclusion. The dedication of all those involved at DLR and our national and international partners was exemplary; they are all deserving of my sincere thank you."
ROSAT was decommissioned in 1999. It was originally supposed to hit Earth’s surface in December.
The increased solar activity heated the Earth’s atmosphere, which caused it to expand and boosted the satellite’s rate of acceleration. This made it crash even sooner.
Ian O'Neill, a writer for Discovery.com, reported on ROSAT's decent from space: "Although ROSAT was given a 'stay of execution' during the extended solar minimum from the mid-2000's to 2009, the recent flaring activity ensured ROSAT wouldn't have to wait long until the atmosphere dragged it back down to Earth."
The footage seen below detailed the projected fall of ROSAT:
