Originally posted by Jools
So finally 'admittance' that it's slowed down and changed it's orientation...hurrah!

Lets be careful about the wording here.

It has NOT changed the direction it was travelling in the orbit.
It has changed the direction it faces, and thus changed the amount of air resistance that it suffers at it travels through the thin wispy layers at the top of our atmospshere. Thats the 'orientation' they speak of.

Because of this lowered aerodynamic drag, it isnt being slowed down quite as much as they expect, and will make a few more (but not many more) orbits before reentry.

Originally posted by laurito80
Fox just claimed it may hit in the US! No wonder Obama is in a cave in Colorado, I havn't seen pictures of it maybe its a UFO or Elenin?

Fox is like 'The Enquirer'...The U.S is going bananas cos they want it first...it's all me, me, me...and then it's California....next they'll be making a movie of it as it crashes and burns...jeez gimme a break!

Obama is in Denver cos they are doing some kind of military terrorism excercise (yes I truly believe that's what it is) and said satellite is playing Cat and Mouse....

I so wanna laugh especially at the American attitude...remember Mir?...it was huge by comparison and just quietly drifted into the ocean...Here we do have unpredictability (I will admit that) but the whole of US has gone nuts on this thing. NASA are probably appealing to the US's sense of it's going to hit us and no one else!!! Truth is they still don't know because it's changed it's orientation and it's going up and down like it's on a wave machine...a few miles up then down (bet they didn't expect that!)...Maybe Phage can explain why it's doing this up and down scenario????Dunno...there must be some scientific explanation....

Originally posted by alfa1

Originally posted by Jools
So finally 'admittance' that it's slowed down and changed it's orientation...hurrah!

Lets be careful about the wording here.

It has NOT changed the direction it was travelling in the orbit.
It has changed the direction it faces, and thus changed the amount of air resistance that it suffers at it travels through the thin wispy layers at the top of our atmospshere. Thats the 'orientation' they speak of.

Because of this lowered aerodynamic drag, it isnt being slowed down quite as much as they expect, and will make a few more (but not many more) orbits before reentry.

Thank you!...well maybe Fox is being quoted a lot and you know what I think to them!...ahem!....but it is my understanding from some posters that NASA has admitted it's orientation has changed and I want to point out I did see it change last night from the tracking website...it was headed down towards antarctica and then curved round and went over AUS...I saw that with my own eyes!!!!!!

I SAW it change direction...sorry I really did...unless someone is messing up the site

I don't tell lies!

NASA's latest announcement:

Update #10
Fri, 23 Sep 2011 07:45:08 AM PDT

As of 10:30 a.m. EDT on Sept. 23, 2011, the orbit of UARS was 100 miles by 105 miles (160 km by 170 km). Re-entry is expected late Friday, Sept. 23, or early Saturday, Sept. 24, Eastern Daylight Time. Solar activity is no longer the major factor in the satellite’s rate of descent. The satellite’s orientation or configuration apparently has changed, and that is now slowing its descent. There is a low probability any debris that survives re-entry will land in the United States, but the possibility cannot be discounted because of this changing rate of descent. It is still too early to predict the time and location of re-entry with any certainty, but predictions will become more refined in the next 12 to 18 hours.