BERLIN — A defunct satellite entered the atmosphere Saturday night and pieces of it were expected to crash into Earth, the German Aerospace Center said. There was no immediate solid evidence to determine above which continent or country the ROSAT scientific research satellite entered the atmosphere, agency spokesman Andreas Schuetz said.
Most parts of the minivan-size satellite were expected to burn up during re-entry, but it was expected up to 30 fragments weighing 1.87 tons could crash into Earth at speeds up to 280 mph.
Experts were waiting for “observations from around the world,” Schuetz said.
Scientists said hours before the re-entry into the atmosphere that the satellite was not expected to hit over Europe, Africa or Australia. According to a precalculated path, it could have been above Asia, possibly China, at the time of its re-entry, but Schuetz said he could not confirm whether the satellite actually entered above that area.
The largest single fragment of ROSAT that could have hit Earth is the telescope’s heat-resistant mirror.
