NASA: Satellite Pieces To Hit Earth In A Week

WASHINGTON -- U.S. space officials say they expect a dead satellite to fall to Earth in about a week.

NASA has been watching the 6-ton satellite closely. On Friday officials moved up their prediction for its arrival to Sept. 23, give or take a day.

NASA scientists have calculated the satellite will break into 26 pieces as it gets closer to Earth. The odds of it hitting someone anywhere on the planet are 1 in 3,200. The heaviest piece to hit the ground will be about 350 pounds, but no one has ever been hit by falling space junk in the past.

NASA expects to give the public more detailed information early next week. For now, all continents except Antarctica could be hit by satellite debris.

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Comments

[mozartmaid2]

05:19 AM on 09/22/2011

Um, anyone seen any updates on our sky falling? Meanwhile, keep looking up, just keep looking up, lol...

[AlbanyReese]

03:56 AM on 09/21/2011

Whoever decided to come up with the "odds" press release, Bravo. With the exception of comments regarding wagering, everyone else just got mind sexed.

If someone is killed by space junk, it's manslaughter and NASA and the Untied States are not doing anything to midigate the risk. I have watched Judge Judy enough to know that poop should not be able to orbit and crash to earth, but its going to. It is a problem and they know it, but act as if it's a risk I told them I was OK with. I'm not. They have accesed the risk and have decided for all of us. I am not going tolerate odds being placed on my life. I'm not a horse in a race. I am a person who gets to decide what risk I wish to take. Things turn out OK, great, it is still criminal that our lives (singularly, for you odds people) are being put at risk without our premission. Protecting the Presidnets life is our duty as a Nation. I would hope he is close to a bunker for the next few days. I dont have a bunker. I have no confiedence, worst case senario, two hours notice, is enough time to properly inform the public. What if I am asleep, what if my kids are in school. If it is coming my way where am I supposed to go? I'm not scared I'm pissed.

[bradkevans]

12:43 AM on 09/20/2011

Skylab #2.

[greenj76]

10:55 PM on 09/19/2011

NASA scientists have been concerned about trash in space for a number of years and are not really ready to deal with the problem. There is a large amount of space debris and a number of defunct satellites that will, at some time in the future, fall to the earth. The most urgent concern is the bus sized 6 and 1/2 ton weather satellite that is due to hit the earth within the next week. Though NASA has assured earthdwellers that there is a remote chance of the debris from the satellite hitting someone, there is a growing concern on the ground. Since the space junk in the earth's atmosphere will most likely one day fall to the earth, there is an ever increasing problem.

According to Bible prophecy items from outer space falling upon the earth will become very damaging in the future time of judgment in that seven year period known as the Tribulation. In Revelation 8:7, it foretells of hail and fire mingled with blood falling on the earth, a time when a third of the trees will be burned up and all the grass will be burned up. A burning mountain will be cast into the sea and one third of the ocean turns to blood while at the same time, one third of the fish die (Revelation 9:8-9). Revelation 8:10-11 reveals that the earth will be hit by a great star named Wormwood, and water sources will be made bitter.

[ncweb76]

12:54 AM on 09/20/2011

And the bogey men will come out of your closet and get you. How you managed to take this story and add your fairy tales to it I'll never know.

[rMatey]

10:18 PM on 09/19/2011

I hope I don't get a piece of this lottery.

[Waterphoneman]

06:46 PM on 09/19/2011

Great news. Now we have a new kind of life/death human roulette. We could called it "Catch the Space Trash" Or "Don't Turn Your Back on Outer Space". What fun.

[Phemale]

05:34 PM on 09/19/2011

It would be nice if all litter was flung back at their bugs...

[coolfireone]

05:20 PM on 09/19/2011

For the Huff headline to use the word "unsure" is evidence of a failure to understand our language. NASA hasn't yet the slightest idea where the pieces will hit. Unsure implies simply some minor degree of inaccuracy less than certainty. Not yet a clue is quite another matter.

[know it all]

03:49 PM on 09/19/2011

You guys are looking at the math incorrectly. There's a 1 in 3200 chance of debris hitting someone. There are over 6 billion someones. If the 1 in 3200 chance does actually happen, then you have a 1 in 6 billion chance of being that unlucky person.

[LateDave]

06:29 PM on 09/20/2011

Right, which is a one in 18 trillion or so chance that *you* get hit. The payoff should be better on that than on the "anything" bet. Bet on your neighbor, not on yourself, tho, so you can enjoy it if you win.

Hey, this doesn't qualify as an act of God, or an act of war, does it? So your homeowner's policy pays off?

[neverwas]

02:30 PM on 09/19/2011

I plan on standing outside and watch any pieces that come at me, at the last moments I'll just side step and run the other way.

[Bill Simpson]

02:05 PM on 09/19/2011

We're all going to die.

[Phemale]

05:34 PM on 09/19/2011

I agree 100%.

[Gus Adaire]

12:29 PM on 09/19/2011

That is wrong..

Vegas has it at 2950 to 1.

[LateDave]

01:49 PM on 09/19/2011

Odds are around 3000:1 against ANYTHING being hit, so if something does get hit, the bookies have to pay off everybody who bet there would be a hit, around $3000 for every buck bet.

Why is it "wrong" for an orbital mechanic to make a rough guess as to how big the target is, accounting for sun-modulated atmospheric drag on day side/night side, instantaneous angle of satellite corpse to atmosphere molecules, coverage of the planet with stuff that qualifies as hittable at various latitudes, and 83 bazillion other factors, while Vegas bookies are "right," when all the bookies are doing is shaving the payoff odds announced by the guys you say are wrong?

[Tom Weidermeijer]

02:04 PM on 09/19/2011

Actually it says SOMEONE being hit.

I would love to get into this action in Vegas though.

[superducky951]

05:59 PM on 09/19/2011

Well what if it hit the bookie. How could you get money from a dead man? :)

[Natasha Boyd]

11:43 AM on 09/19/2011

this is ridiculously irresponsible - I can't believe they and WE are being so nonchalant about this.
i've got more chance of getting hit by space debris than getting a cut from shaving? are you kidding me?

[Craigy6]

12:26 PM on 09/19/2011

What's your resolution? Have you ever seen that theoretical drawing of the amount of satellites in orbit around earth, both those in use and those obsolete. Without fuel or a guidance system they are gonna fall, eventually. Luckily those in use allow you to use your cellphone, and watch your tv, make a long distance-call, and probably type a comment on Huff Post that anyone in the world could read. I'm just saying with 26 predicted pieces that could fall on ANY, and probably ALL, continents, what's your solution to the issue?

[AlbanyReese]

04:13 AM on 09/21/2011

Your missing the point. Risk vs Reward is not the way some of us want to live anymore. I get that I am part of the mess but I have had enough and I am saying when. I'm tired of playing dead because I like my stuff. Are you suggesting we keep blazing thru with no regard because we like our cell phones. I would rather slow down and readjust to 1980 than this. This goes for all things deemed progress. I cant think of anything civilization has done that wasn't self serving. me included. we cant fix all of the problems we all have created, we can make less in the future instead of putting our heads up our %^$

[Phemale]

05:37 PM on 09/19/2011

Ok, everybody go out and buy all of the duct tape and plastic wrap that you can find and we'll seal off our properties and entire planet as we did during the GW hype alerts.

[librldem]

11:28 AM on 09/19/2011

It's a sign from jebus! - Michelle Bachmann

[librldem]

11:26 AM on 09/19/2011

Don't go hide under one of our substandard bridges as it may collapse anyway.