Satellites

[YorkshireBear]

is it ever going to come down? is it made up? do satellites even exist?

In all seriousness though. Is anyone too fussed? Personally i'd like to know where it lands just because i never really seen ti on news before but im not sat in bed scared.

Thoughts?

 

[deltic1989]

If it does come down then it will most likely burn up into little chunks on re-entery. and considering the estimated drop zone that NASA are giving (somewhere between Edinbrough and Cape Horn) contains several thousand square miles of open ocean there is a better than even chance that it will land harmlessly in the middle of the Atlantic.

 

[Eagle]

is it ever going to come down?

Yes

is it made up?

No

do satellites even exist?

I think so

Is anyone too fussed?

Not particularly (although is it a coincidence that the day we disprove* the special theory of relativity a satellite falls out of its gravitational orbit?)

Thoughts?

In the unlikely event it lands somewhere populated at least we'll get some decent YouTube videos.

*obviously we haven't. There is no way those neutrinos were going over the speed of light, honest officer, I didn't know I was speeding, my tachymeter must be faulty...

 

[Grantham]

Some satellite fell out of orbit in about 1984 (if I recall correctly, no guarantees!) and fell into the middle of nowhere, Western Australia. Made for good photos....

Mick
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
http://www.abc.net.au/local/photos/2009/07/09/2621733.htm

Ok, it might have been 1979, but I remember watching it on the news.

 

[ralphchadkirk]

The chance of it hitting one person is 1 in 32,000. The chance of it hitting you is 1 in 26000000000000000000.


There's nothing to worry about.

 

[table38]

I like those odds. As there is more chance of my winning the lottery (at 1 in 13,983,816) clearly I must buy a ticket.

When Skylab came down in 1979, someone was selling hats with a "Skylab warning spike" on the top, which would give you a few hundreds of a second to jump out of the way

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

It was mentioned on a Radio 4 programme this morning and the object is said to have been the size of a bus. Every orbit of the earth was different and the final orbit was said to pass over the Pacific Ocean, Canada and the Atlantic Ocean.

 

[table38]

Nasa has confirmed that debris from a bus-sized satellite has crashed back to Earth in Canada, the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean

Well, that narrows it down a bit

** update **

Just when you thought it was safe to go outside again, Second giant chunk of space junk heading for Earth

A defunct German space telescope is set to collide with Earth less than five weeks after a satellite the size of a bus hits the planet

 

[SS4]

The chance of it hitting anyone is poor. The chance of it hitting you is mathematically insignificant.

As usual the media is hyping up a non-story to promote fear

 

[AlterEgo]

If there is a God, it'll come down on Piers Morgan.

 

[MidnightFlyer]

If there is a God, it'll come down on Piers Morgan.

I really hope so!

 

[SS4]

If there is a God, it'll come down on Piers Morgan.

Or Rupert Murdoch.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

You can go satellite spotting if you like!

http://www.heavens-above.com/

Just select your location from the drop down menus then save to favourites; every time you visit the site you'll then get predictions specific to your own location.

The satellite predictions are the third line down in the second section on the keft of the page, if you're in an inner urban area click on the link marked 3.5; if your suburban or rural select the link marked 4.5.

 

[Don2912]

drop down menu

If there is a God, it'll come down on Piers Morgan.

And Jimmy Carr. Don't forget Jimmy Carr.