The 35-foot-long, 15-foot-diameter “decommissioned” NASA Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) will quite likely fall from the sky tonight between 8 PM and midnight tonight PDT. The good news for us is that during that time it will not be passing over the continental United States, and more importantly, not over Carlsbadistan according to NASA.
As of 7 p.m. EDT on Sept. 23, 2011, the orbit of UARS was 90 miles by 95 miles (145 km by 150 km). Re-entry is expected between 11 p.m. Friday, Sept. 23, and 3 a.m., Sept. 24, Eastern Daylight Time (3 a.m. to 7 a.m. GMT). During that time period, the satellite will be passing over Canada, Africa and Australia, as well as vast areas of the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans. The risk to public safety is very remote.
The bad news is only for Canada, Africa, and Australia, apparently. If Carlsbadistan wasn’t buried in a continual layer of fog it would be possible to see (and maybe hear) the speeding ball of fire tonight around 7:45 PM, according to NBC San Diego. For more updated info, click the link.
[Link: NASA]
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