A defunct German space telescope called ROSAT is set to hit the planet at the end of October.

Second big satellite set to resist re-entry burn-up

Even if NASA's 6-tonne UARS satellite does not cause any injury or damage when it re-enters the Earth's atmosphere today, there is more space junk headed our way next month. A defunct German space telescope called ROSAT is set to hit the planet at the end of October – and it even is more likely than UARS to cause injury or damage in populated areas.

NASA calculates a 1-in-3200 chance of UARS causing injury or damage. But at the end of October or beginning of November, ROSAT – a 2.4-tonne X-ray telescope built by the German aerospace lab DLR and launched by NASA in 1990 – will re-enter the atmosphere, presenting a 1 in 2000 chance of injury.

"Solar activity causes the atmosphere to expand upwards, causing more braking on space objects. The reason UARS is coming back sooner than expected is a sudden increase in solar activity. Indeed, we expect to see a higher rate of re-entries as we approach the solar maximum in 2013," he says.

So.....plenty more re-entries to come for everyone to get all doom and gloom over!

Anyways.....just a heads up for ya...No pun intended!

Source

Nice find. Another one now, the conspiracies will really start kicking off now.

homepage for the ROSAT www.dlr.de...

a sudden increase in solar activity. Indeed, we expect to see a higher rate of re-entries as we approach the solar maximum in 2013,

That's the answer to the question I'd been pondering about UARS. Michio Kaku's been saying for the last few years that NASA's main concern is increased solar activity knocking out satellites but I believe we all thought it just meant switching them off and causing GPS etc not to function. Perhaps what they really meant is that it's going to start raining large metal boxes on our heads - and there are a lot of these billion dollar tin cans floating around up there.
It struck me as odd that NASA would allow UARS to fail merely because it ran out of fuel. I know gas prices have risen but surely tossing away a 3/4 billion dollar sensor array because of an empty fuel tank could be construed as a tad wasteful.
Babies and bath water and all that....
Good post OP.

It was this comment from another article about the UARS that got my attention...

It seems likely that UARS will avoid areas inhabited by humans, but the experience will be something of a dress rehearsal for a greater danger coming in November. A German satellite telescope called Rosat is expected to re-enter with much bigger pieces, including a very large lens, still intact.

Can you dodge a falling satellite?

reply to post by Aestheteka



Almost as if they know there's not much point having anything up there any longer.

Please be kind to us, Sun!

I do recall that the ISS is going to be unmanned at roughly the same time - Astronauts May Evacuate Space Station in November, NASA Says

Russian rocket failures or solar activity? Perhaps the shuttle programme was ended for similar reasons (as covered in this ATS thread - What Is The REAL Reason NASA Is Ending The Space Shuttle Program?)

There is No Doubt something will kill someone one day. We have 22 thousand objects orbiting the earth, about 6000 that are pretty big (and that's just the ones they let us know about). Suddenly 1 in 3200 looks like a very small number.

In another thread it was asked, " So what's the answer, just not send up any more satellites " the person asked incredulously as if that's unthinkable.

I say yes. It's not " an unfortunate accident" if you know ahead of time one day a machine you send up could come down and kill someone. It's murder. It's irresponsible. But governments don't care about that they murder people all the time.

I say we either develop safer technology like way smaller satellites guaranteed to burn up completely before it hits the ground or invest in a space garbage system to tow away and destroy these things away from the earth.

reply to post by JohnPhoenix


It's a question of accountability. Ultimately, no individual is held accountable. If they were then there would be a different mechanism in place.

Another one! S&F.

I feel like chicken little - "The sky is falling down!"

The germans are good engineers, this thing shouldn't break up at all!

st.

reply to post by JohnPhoenix


Hear, Hear.

It really annoys me when I read "the chances are slim" and "only one person in 50 years have ever been hit by falling space debris". There is still a chance!

Would it be too much to ask karma to drop a piece on a beloved vehicle of one of these satellites developers?



Off topic- Your signature has just convinced me to finally buy my other half the electronic cigarette! I've been meaning to for a while after seeing the success my friend had with it when she finally realised that surviving cancer itself was not enough for her to kick the habit!

Well done on quitting

reply to post by Aestheteka


Good point, but if NASA say don't touch debris because it may be dangerous plus its US government property, then surely if you claim and are prepared to defend ownership of a fragment of whatever surely your responsible if "your" property kills or injurs someone?!?!?

reply to post by Bex33


Off Topic: Check my latest thread and this post here for info on beginning with the e-cigs www.abovetopsecret.com... There is tons of stuff to learn different styles, sizes etc choosing a good beginners kit can be daunting. U2U me if you have any questions, Happy to help and Best Wishes.

reply to post by waveydavey


According to the BBC - Members of the public are not allowed to keep pieces of the satellite that may fall to Earth, or sell them on eBay, as they remain the property of the US government.

Basically, it's NASA launching a pre-emptive "Please, Mister, can we have our ball back?"
And I think we all know the answer to that one.... just which EBay category would one list it under?

Is your name a Vic Reeves reference (or Bob Mortimer, to be more precise)? Because you just would not let it lie...

reply to post by Aestheteka


I want my ball back indeed!
Its like firing a bullet into a crowd then asking for it back!!
They must surely know that they are liable for any damage or injury as a result?!?!?!

Hahaha, huge fan of Vic and Bob!! Was not an conscious reference, however My I share my surname with Vic (his real name) no relation, that i'm aware of!

NASA/US government ARE liable for damage etc

Interesting to see how things pan out with this one.

Wow another satellite, this is weird, I agree that it must have something to do with the Solar activity, and they (Government) must know something is up. And about the break up of this telescope during reentry, If the lense is made of glass, then it will become a molten glob of glass raining down on Earth. Glass becomes soft at around 1200f, molten at around 1500-2000f, I know because i bend glass. Not something I want hitting anywhere there is a populated area, could you image being covered in molten glass, Ouch Ouch

reply to post by Glassbender777


Sounds lovely!


Ouchy!!

what a waste. they lowered the orbit of UARS.
so it could burn up!!!
why not build a robot mini ship to put them in high orbit.
then use the parts. why not re'use the solar panels?
with all that junk they could build a second space station.
build a ring of them and use that for all the satellites usese.

to me it is like they use all the space junk as a mine filed.
to stop others going in to space.
they could hit you with junk and say it was an accident.

reply to post by Bex33

do you know how to find ROSAT on Orbitron (www.stoff.pl...) ??? which list?

Here are some news from today:
thewatchers.adorraeli.com...