NASA Says Don't Worry About Falling Satellite

[Generic_Username]

Nothing bad ever came out of decommissioned space junk falling out of the sky. Just ask George.

I was honestly looking through this thread just to see if someone would mention that.

On topic, I'm not an expert, but isn't it just supposed to burn up in the atmosphere anyway?

 

[Marik Bentusi]

Don't that do that all the time? Last time I heard the public talk about it was when they crashed the MIR.

 

[C95J]

If I saw a piece of a fallen satellite in my back garden, I would definitely keep it, sorry NASA.

 

[kayisking]

Pardon my ignorance, but wouldn't most of it burn up? Or is it not high enough for that to happen?

Personally, I don't really think there is much to worry about as NASA probably built it to fall apart upon descent.

Normally it would, but this isn't just some rock, it's a satalite. Even though it isn't made for a return journey, it is made out of alloys that are extremely heat resistance, so you it will probably make it through mostly intact. It is probable however that it wil split into different pieces, wich would mean that there would be less of an impact.

 

[Teddy Roosevelt]

NASA isn't lying... Satellites do fall down all the time. Maybe not so much anymore because many of them nowadays are sent up with sufficient calculations to prevent degrading orbits for a very long time, but regardless, its not something to get worked up over.... at all.

Also, it will significantly break up in the upper atmosphere during its descent, rendering it, one could assume, no more destructive than small meteorites that hit quite frequently, actually.

 

[kouriichi]

Why cant we touch a piece of the shuttle again...?

Dont tell me its not only going to be raining metal, but the metal will be radioactive and contaminate our food and water supplies. Good going NASA. Youve doomed us all. AGAIN.

 

[Teddy Roosevelt]

Pardon my ignorance, but wouldn't most of it burn up? Or is it not high enough for that to happen?

Personally, I don't really think there is much to worry about as NASA probably built it to fall apart upon descent.

Normally it would, but this isn't just some rock, it's a satalite. Even though it isn't made for a return journey, it is made out of alloys that are extremely heat resistance, so you it will probably make it through mostly intact. It is probable however that it wil split into different pieces, wich would mean that there would be less of an impact.

Why would it be very heat resistant? It's not a space shuttle. It doesn't have a heat shield, remember. Abrasion during the fall will rip it apart, to be sure.

Well, I just tried looking up construction materials on the Wikipedia article about UARS, to no success. Even so, expect that satellites are made of different material than Space Shuttles, and, while certainly much more durable than most things we encounter in our silly little grounded lives, it is a relatively fragile piece of equipment.

 

[McMullen]

If I saw a piece of a fallen satellite in my back garden, I would definitely keep it, sorry NASA.

The reason they say not to touch the debris is because satellites often contain toxic, sometimes radioactive materials, and collecting, showing off, or selling this kind of thing can lead to a lot of people getting sick or killed. It can also, in the case of components that are intentionally sent back to earth, lead to a waste of tens of millions of taxpayer dollars and years of work when data is destroyed or samples are contaminated.

When NASA says do not touch, it is generally for a good reason. At least, they are far better reasons than any you could give for ignoring them.

 

[C95J]

If I saw a piece of a fallen satellite in my back garden, I would definitely keep it, sorry NASA.

The reason they say not to touch the debris is because satellites often contain toxic, sometimes radioactive materials, and collecting, showing off, or selling this kind of thing can lead to a lot of people getting sick or killed. It can also, in the case of components that are intentionally sent back to earth, lead to a waste of tens of millions of taxpayer dollars and years of work when data is destroyed or samples are contaminated.

When NASA says do not touch, it is generally for a good reason. At least, they are far better reasons than any you could give for ignoring them.

Naa, it's no problem, I have tons of Rad-X and RadAway stored up in my cupboard

 

[The Artificially Prolonged]

NASA, "Public safety is our main concern. Thats why we advise anyone worried about being hit with a falling satellite to wear a cooking pot on their head and not go outside without an umbrella"

On topic

6.5 tons is not that big a satellite, so nothing really to worry about, I'm sure you've got more chance at being struck by lighting. Though I'd love the irony if the satellite crashed right outside NASA HQ and crushed the person who makes these statement's car.

 

[metal mustache]

oh boy, don't you know murphys law gets stronger the more you say things like totally safe, extremely small risk, nothing to worry about?

 

[Knife-28]

If you come to the Escapist for serious news, you have problems.

I come to the escapist for news >.>

Anyway, back on topic, It would probably be bad to touch it if it landed in your general vicinity, it would probably be a tad radioactive, and hot, very very hot.

Edit: AH, ninja'd on the radioactive thing >.> Still, good thing to remember none the less.

 

[Bloodstain]

...not touch it? But...but...but!

 

[ReiverCorrupter]

Nothing to worry about guys. It's just 6.5 ton piece of metal falling from the sky. That never hurt anyone.


Never you mind things like Project Thor [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinetic_bombardment].

Yes, kinectic bombardment is essentially dropping things from space, like what's going to happen to this satellite.

Yes, they achieved the equivalent of tactical nuclear strikes with rods roughly the size of telephone poles which, if I remember correctly, weighted nowhere near 6 tons.

Yes, this kind of strike is nigh impossible to defend against since there's no guidance system to jam, it's just something falling, and you can't really intercept it since it's falling at roughly 9 km per second (for comparison a Barrett M82 .50 cal sniper rifle [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barret_50_cal] has a muzzle velocity of roughly 853 m per second).


...so I guess what they're saying is something like "don't worry about it, if it lands on you, you're just fucked".


Heads up.

Umm... I doubt the satellite was made to withstand reentry. First of all, it is made of component parts so it can break apart easily under the immense stress of reentry. Secondly, if they never planned to have a controlled reentry, then it doesn't have heat resistant plates, which means that it will probably melt. It will most likely break up into small pieces or completely disintegrate. Asteroids much larger than 6 tons are destroyed in our atmosphere all the time.

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v436/n7054/full/nature03881.html

And those are for meteors made of solid rock. A satellite is fragile by comparison.

 

[MASTACHIEFPWN]

Well, I'm glad the thing shows little danger for huma- *Huge satelite crashes through my kitchen*

 

[PunkRex]

Remember to stop, drop and roll... thats all I could think to do in such a situation.

 

[Grahav]

With a little luck this could start season 3 of "Dead Like Me".

 

[Innegativeion]

If you come to the Escapist for serious news, you have problems.

Avatar of poster accompanies statement perfectly.

 

[GodofDisaster]

Remember to stop, drop and roll... thats all I could think to do in such a situation.

Would ducking under a table help?

Also I'm not worried, I mean what are the chances of it landing on a really small village in N.Ireland.