Vietnam Probes Mysterious 'Space Balls'

Here's a picture of what a fuel tank looks like - it could be from a Meteosat satellite that burnt up:

www.space-propulsion.com...

Here's a list of satellites that are going to burn up:

www.satview.org...

FREGAT DEB looks a likely candidate:

FREGAT DEB
Reentry: (YMD) 2016-01-9 2015 41114U 50º 3545 265 125 Tracking | Reentry

Someone must have jammed their radar. Good thing they weren't going at Ludicrous Speed when they hit the ground.

originally posted by: Peeple
a reply to: Zarniwoop

But why would their military investigate, if it is so obvious?

My suspicion is for the very same reason the article calls them Space Balls.

That looks like an OoGhiJ MIQtxxXA.

Source...

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: Vroomfondel

The source article says that it may have fallen from 62 miles or less. But it could have come through reentry with the surrounding vehicle intact, and it broke up after passing the atmosphere, as with NASA said, some hydrazine left inside it as a slurry mix, which would have helped soften the impact somewhat.

Good points. I didn't consider internal pressure - kind of ashamed of that one...

a reply to: Signals

I want one! I wonder if any of these are for sale?

a reply to: LightSpeedDriver

While I believe it's the most plausible explanation...I recently wondered...is this normal ? I mean...there have been at least 5 such cases in the last 5 years that I can remember.

Are these tanks simply dropped at a certain point by a craft or what ? Is this expected behavior ?

Have any (space)craft been reported missing a tank ?

a reply to: MarioOnTheFly

I believe that most satellites have a limited service life and when the fuel is all used up, it slowly stops orbiting and starts falling back to earth. I can't remember dates very well but I have seen a few threads from various locations with similar "space balls" in the last couple of years on ATS. From what I understand the tank doesn't (always?) burn up on re-entry.