UARS now with a FEMA twist??

reply to post by Ophiuchus 13

The heat produced on re-entry is far greater than that produced by incendiaries. Anything that can be vaporized will do so all by itself.

reply to post by Phage


Yup.

reply to post by Phage


exactly, so a nice little "pre re entry" missile to say hello will make 26 bits of those 26 bits and all is fine!

Of course if this does land somewhere important or of significant then im gunna have to don my tinfoil head piece!

reply to post by waveydavey


Would seem this is just a precaution ( governmental ). Hummm..would seem that if there was a dangerous
payload on board they would have removed it by now one way or another.

Originally posted by LanternOfDiogenes
If you look at its telemetry data, you can see that even if it falls off course it will not be anywhere near the US... its flight takes it over the tip of Argentina bisects Africa, the middle east, and greater Asia where it starts back down again crossing through Russia and back out into the pacific...not a chance it will hit US soil based on that. check it out

www.n2yo.com...

Hmmmm. So why FEMA....?

2nd.

Originally posted by Phage
reply to post by HawkeyeNation

 

2) Don't want space debris - Understandable. Then shoot it down once it enters Earth's atmosphere. C'mon this isn't rocket science for christ sakes.

Shoot what down exactly?
The satellite will break up as it enters the atmosphere. 26 pieces large enough to be hazardous are expected to make it to the surface (the rest will vaporize). The pieces range in size from 0.003 square meters to 0.93 square meters.

Where should the missile launcher be placed since the reentry point is unknown?
Which pieces should they shoot at? The biggest? What do you get when you hit something with a missile? Fluffy bunnies?

edit on 9/20/2011 by Phage because: (no reason given)

Oh I see...it's going to be in pieces. Well then why would FEMA be getting involved? I was under the assumption that it was going to be this school bus sized satellite

reply to post by HawkeyeNation

FEMA isn't exactly "involved". It is policy that FEMA be kept informed of the reentry of any satellite over North America.

Duncan told SPACE.com during a Sept. 9 teleconference that his organization will notify FEMA "as part of our chain of command notifications for re-entries over North America."

www.cbsnews.com...

From the 2008 reentry, potentially a much more dangerous situation:
www.fema.gov...

Originally posted by LanternOfDiogenes
If you look at its telemetry data, you can see that even if it falls off course it will not be anywhere near the US... its flight takes it over the tip of Argentina bisects Africa, the middle east, and greater Asia where it starts back down again crossing through Russia and back out into the pacific...not a chance it will hit US soil based on that. check it out

www.n2yo.com...

And yet on the news, they're still saying it could land anywhere between 57 latitude north, and 57 latitude south. Our news this morning said it's just as likely to hit somewhere in Canada, being a large country, as anywhere else, and that they have no idea where it'll land until 2 hours before landing.

reply to post by snowspirit

That's because in the website referred to only one orbit is shown. The satellite takes about an hour and half to complete an orbit. During that time the Earth rotates beneath it so it passes over different terrain on each pass. Since the exact time of reentry is not known, it is not known on which orbit it will reenter and thus, it is not known over what part of the Earth it will occur.

But it is possible to know where it will not occur. The three day window eliminates some possibilities. As the window is narrowed further, more will be eliminated.

reply to post by Phage

The satellite will break up as it enters the atmosphere. 26 pieces large enough to be hazardous are expected to make it to the surface (the rest will vaporize). The pieces range in size from 0.003 square meters to 0.93 square meters.

Where did these size estimates come from??

Assuming the larger piece, nearly 1 square meter is made of something robust enough to survive re-entry, Titanium for example, even if it was a sheet 1m X 0.93m X 25.4mm thick it would weigh 235Lbs or 106.6 Kg. A more than lethal and devastating lump to be hurtling towards anybody or anything!!!!

Metal weight calculator

reply to post by waveydavey

From the Re-entry and Risk Assessment.
www.nasa.gov...

Yup. The big piece is a nasty one. Its the SSPP structure, an aluminum box weighing 158 kg. Expected to hit the ground at 44 m/s.

reply to post by Phage


OUCH!!!!!

Thanks for the link Phage
UARS risk assesment

Keep away from the Berrylium components

The commercial use of beryllium metal presents technical challenges due to the toxicity (especially by inhalation) of beryllium-containing dusts. Beryllium is corrosive to tissue, and can cause a chronic life-threatening allergic disease called berylliosis in some people. As it is not synthesized in stars, beryllium is a relatively rare element in both the Earth and the universe.

Beryllium

reply to post by waveydavey

That could be why it is not recommend that debris be touched.

But it's found as alloys in spacecraft, not it's pure metallic state.

reply to post by Phage


It may well be an alloy, the risk assesment list names specific alloys for both the stainless steel and aluminium components.
Maybe they don't know what alloys where used for the Beryllium and Titanium components.

if it landed in my back yard, id be very tempted to poke it with a stick

2nd

Government lies anyway.

I think it's safe to touch it.

Don't you?

Let's find out for ourselves and then we'll report back to ATS of the complications we have.

Still FEMA seems like overkill for 26 pieces of debris that suppossedly presents very little risk, wouldn't you agree??

reply to post by waveydavey

The Air Force saying to FEMA, "Hey, there's going to be a satellite falling down somewhere on the planet in a few days" is overkill?

What would you propose as a more appropriate action? "Hey FEMA, oh...nevermind."

reply to post by Phage


I just think that for something that NASA is drawing attention to albeit in a downplayed manner that it is nothing that local law enforcement can deal with. Unless they already know where it will hit.

If a chunk landed in your back yard, are you not capable of calling emergency services and/or NASA to say "hey a piece of your satellite just landed in my back yard".

Similarly if even the largest lump declared came screaming through the roof of a house does that really call for the services of an agency like FEMA?? Before I get jumped on for that last statement, if it hit my house yes I would be annoyed and if someone died then yes I would be upsett and devastated. Would my house need to be FEMA'd?? I should think not, police fire and ambulance services would be able to deal.
That is if everything NASA have said is on the level.

Just my opinion on this you understand.

reply to post by waveydavey

There is no indication that FEMA is on any heightened state of alert or mobilization. It is SOP for FEMA to be notified so they were notified. If their services are required they will be available to assist your local police and fire fighters. That's what they do.

FEMA Mission

FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.

DISASTER. It strikes anytime, anywhere. It takes many forms -- a hurricane, an earthquake, a tornado, a flood, a fire or a hazardous spill, an act of nature or an act of terrorism. It builds over days or weeks, or hits suddenly, without warning. Every year, millions of Americans face disaster, and its terrifying consequences.

www.fema.gov...