WASHINGTON — That dead NASA satellite fell into what might be the ideal spotpart of the south Pacific Ocean about as far from large land masses as you can get, U.S. space officials said Tuesday.
New U.S. Air Force calculations put the 6-ton UARS satellite’s death plunge early Saturday thousands of miles from northwestern North America, where there were reports of sightings. Instead, it plunged into an area dotted by remote islands.
NASA says those new calculations show the 20-year-old satellite entered Earth’s atmosphere generally above American Samoa. But falling debris as it broke apart didn’t start hitting the water for another 300 miles, southwest of Christmas Island, just after midnight EDT Saturday. Experts believe about two dozen metal pieces from the bus-size satellite fell over a 500-mile span.
Other satellites will continue to fall. Late in October or early in November, a German astronomy satellite is set to plunge uncontrolled back to Earth. While slightly smaller than UARS, the German satellite is expected to have more pieces surviving re-entry. The Associated Press
