The sky is not falling. A 12,500- pound NASA satellite the size of a school bus is, however.
It’s the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite, and it’s currently tumbling in orbit and succumbing to Earth’s gravity. It will crash to the surface Friday.
Or maybe Thursday. Or Saturday. Out-of-control crashing satellites don’t lend themselves to exact estimates even for the precision-minded folks at NASA.
As of the moment, NASA says the 35-foot-long satellite will crash somewhere between 57 degrees north latitude and 57 degrees south latitude — a projected crash zone that covers most of the planet, and particularly the inhabited parts.
It’s the biggest piece of NASA space junk to fall to Earth in more than 30 years. It will partially burn up during re-entry, and, by NASA’s calculation, break into about 100 flaming pieces. An estimated 26 of those pieces will survive the re-entry burn and will spray themselves in a linear debris field 500 miles long. The largest chunk should weigh about 300 pounds.
The good news is that UARS will probably splatter into the open ocean.
