NASA Falling Satellite: Scientists Insist Debris Could Land in U.S.
There was speculation Friday that a school bus-size NASA satellite headed toward Earth might go off course and send debris into populated areas.
Most of the 6-ton 35-foot NASA research satellite, known as Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS), will burn up upon re-entry into the atmosphere, but 26 large chucks weighing around 300 pounds are expected to hit the earth's surface.
It has been difficult predicting just when and where the debris would land, but NASA predicted days ago that debris would not land over North America.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
However, scientists following the satellite have challenged that prediction and say, despite the low probability, that some debris from the falling satellite could potentially hit America.
NASA said on its UARS webpage, "There is a low probability any debris that survives re-entry will land in the United States, but the possibility cannot be discounted because of this changing rate of descent."
The statement continued, "It is still too early to predict the time and location of re-entry with any certainty, but predictions will become more refined in the next 12 to 18 hours."
UARS is slowing its approach toward Earth, but will likely come closer to the planet by late Friday or early Saturday. Just where the fallout will take place remains highly unpredictable and debris could land anywhere from the Southern Ocean to the tip of South America.
NASA has said that the odds that someone on earth might be hit by debris is one in 3,200 and that the satellite was falling at a speed of five miles per second.
UARS was launched in 1991 to study the earth's atmosphere but it ran out of fuel in 2005 and has been descending toward earth ever since. It is the largest satellite to fall back on earth uncontrolled since 1979.
The space agency says that it expects most pieces of the satellite to fall into the ocean.
