NASA Says Don't Worry About Falling Satellite

[FateOrFatality]

This is how American's play Russian Roulette.

I would play this game. I would show that satellite who is in charge around here, and then I would forge myself a suit of armour out of the super hot, radioactive space metal and declare myself King of Space.

...What were we talking about again?

OT: Like I said above, I assume the reason they say not to touch the satellite is because it would be radioactive, right? Assuming it's cooled down by then. Or have I just watched too many sci-fi movies?

 

[Sansha]

If I find a piece of that satellite, I will take it, lock it up in the most secure place I can think of and auction off that *****.

 

[Sunrider]

I'm old enough to remember Skylab coming back down, now that was something to worry about. The thing weighed 77 tons. So pah 6.5 tons I sneeze in your general direction.

I wonder if something grand like that will ever happen in my lifetime. Why we aren't focusing more on space is beyond my understanding.

 

[GonzoGamer]

Don't panic?
Check.
Towel?
Check.

All set.

 

[DefinitelyPsychotic]

Snip

while i agree...im just gonna say this...you just bashed an escapist news guy...you have a 90% chance of banning :C

Yeah, because "Escapist News Guys" (and for that matter, any Escapist contributors) are so special and are never allowed to be criticized.

Anyway, I wouldn't worry about it too much. The satellite has a much greater chance of crashing into the ocean rather than on land.

 

[Clonekiller]

Well, I've seen some cynical writing in my time, but this one takes the cake. It's probably not a good thing if you can replace the word "satellite" with "giant asteroid" and still have a mostly cohesive story.

Course, we don't have any space shuttles anymore, so even if this satellite was going to crash in the middle of New York city, we couldn't do anything about it.

 

[Aptspire]

Well, it was nice knowing you all.

Also, telling people to not touch something from space is just going to encourage them to go looking for said debris.

Unless...this is all part of their master plan.

they'd have had more luck using reverse psychology and say "all right, everyone should try and touch the satellite pieces! Definitely NOT emitting radiations!"

 

[artanis_neravar]

(And I full well assume a certain Faux Noise will get on that regardless)

Ok this has been bothering me for awhile, you people do realize that faux isn't pronounced "fox" right? It is pronounced "fou" with the normal f sound and a long O

 

[McMullen]

NASA really needs some kind of recycling program. They track where the satellites are after their "missions" are over, why couldn't a shuttle nab it on its way back so they could strip it for parts?

Many, if not most, satellites are in orbits that the shuttle can't reach. Also, the shuttle program has been cancelled.

article

Must be nice to not actually have to invest any effort in your articles. I wish I could get away with just making BS up and going with my first impression of a subject. I could put all the time taken up by research and fact-checking into Civ IV instead.

 

[McMullen]

Also, NASA said if you do find a piece of metal or debris that just might be a part of the massive UARS satellite, you should under no circumstances touch the object. Call your local law enforcement precinct and an agent, er, friendly neighborhood police officer will come round to quarantine the area and impound your wife and pets.

Fuck that shit. If I find a piece of space debris, it's fucking mine.

You should read this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goiânia_accident#Theft_of_the_source

And then consider that satellites are sometimes powered by radioactive heat sources. It's less likely with earth-orbiting satellites, but it can happen. More often they'll contain some other hazardous material.

Even though it's fashionable these days to suspect everything a government agency says, NASA's warnings, like those of the National Weather Service, are intended to advise you on how best to not get harmed or killed.

 

[Trivun]

I'm certainly not going to worry about this. Because around 70% of the planet is water. And then a sizeable amount of the landmass is currently uninhabited (parts of the rainforests, the Sahara Desert, wide swathes of the North and South Poles...). So the chances of it hitting anywhere densely populated are already fairly slim anyway. From a purely logical point of view, I agree with NASA. There is almost nothing to worry about here.

 

[Pinkamena]

The reason there is no danger, is that it would completely disintegrate and burn up when it touches the atmosphere.
Escapist, please stop the implied "we are going to die"-stuff in your science articles...

 

[ZeZZZZevy]

Well, it was nice knowing you all.

Also, telling people to not touch something from space is just going to encourage them to go looking for said debris.

Unless...this is all part of their master plan.

they'd have had more luck using reverse psychology and say "all right, everyone should try and touch the satellite pieces! Definitely NOT emitting radiations!"

but that sounds fishy, by letting people know up front that there's radiation, people might think that they're being lied to, and there is in fact no radiation to be afraid of.

 

[Robomega]

Wait wait, I've seen this movie. A small rural town gets wiped out by a supervirus and Michael Douglas almost sets off a nuke.

 

[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.