Whoever is able to view the falling satellite upon re-entry is in for quite a light show. It's supposed to rival that of a spectacular fireworks display, not like a fireball meteor, which only lasts for a few seconds.
Here's a snippet from Spaceweather.com:
"The disintegration of UARS is expected to produce a fireball that could be visible even in broad daylight. Not all of the spacecraft will burn up in the atmosphere, however; according to a NASA risk assessment, as many as 26 potentially hazardous pieces of debris could be scattered along a ground track some 500 miles long. The same report puts the odds of a human casualty at 1 in 3200."
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I will be covering this more frequently, especially as the satellite comes closer to re-entry.
Here's the latest:
Latest NASA Update:
"As of Sept. 20, 2011, the orbit of UARS was 127 mi by 140 mi (205 km by 225 km). Re-entry is expected Sept. 23, plus or minus a day. It is still too early to predict the time and location of re-entry. Predictions will become more refined over the next two days."
Stay tuned...
There are a lot of science websites that are tracking this developing story.
I obtained the above quote from Space.com. However, feel free to check out NASA's site. It would be neat if they could track this satellite on NASA TV as it makes re-entry.
MS
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