NASA Says Don't Worry About Falling Satellite

[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.

 

[ThunderCavalier]

Personally speaking, wouldn't it have been best to not tell anyone about the satellite since they don't expect it to do any damage, and then cover up the collision as best they can?

No need to release this information and cause a panic for no real reason.

 

[Alar]

I'm certain this has been said, and while I am no physicist, I think the main reason they're not worried about it is because most of it will burn up in the atmosphere. Satellites aren't launched into space as-is, they have to go up on rockets with projective shielding around them. The rockets and then shielding are shed and the satellite comes online to manuver into orbit.

Am I wrong in thinking that most of it will probably just be burned up?

 

[ultrachicken]

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.

I don't think that people are actually going to touch it once they get close enough to feel the immense heat coming off the debris. Stuff doesn't fall through the atmosphere and stay at room temperature.

 

[ZephrC]

Was this supposed to be funny or something? 'Cause I don't get it.

Satellites really do burn up on re-entry, and it really does happen all the time, and it really is perfectly safe.

Why would you randomly pick this one satellite and pretend that somehow it's suddenly strange that they're claiming it's safe? This just doesn't make any sense at all.

 

[Strazdas]

NASA is right though. there are thousand objects in earths orbit by now. and they do fall to earth quite often. not to mention all the meterites that fall, hundreds of them. they all burn up. and this satelite will likely burn up before it falls down and we wont even feel it.

as for not touching part, its been in outer atmosphere for 20 years now. it is extremely likely that it has soaked enough radiation to burn people touching it during that time. its also going to be bloody hot after re-entry.

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?

because to send a shuttle to pick it up costs more than to build a new one, duh. and it takes less effort too. besides the thing will jut burn to dust anyway, so stop panicking.
you should be more worried about 2034 mars solar eclipse when mars will be closest to earth since thousands of years ago. no this is no end of the world by any means but the gravity may cause huge floods and such.

 

[Ekonk]

Misleading article. Sattelites disintegrate and burn up in the atmosphere. They are not designed to keep together in such conditions and fall apart like a handful of sand. I predict that there'll be very little damage, if any at all.

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.

I don't think that people are actually going to touch it once they get close enough to feel the immense heat coming off the debris. Stuff doesn't fall through the atmosphere and stay at room temperature.

Also, outside of the atmosphere there's a lot of radiation. Perhaps that's also part of the DON'T TOUCH policy.

 

[iLeikHip]

Am I the only one who thinks this is the start of an Alien horror movie?