Originally posted by Z32Driver
... while the live tracker showed it still in orbit steadily loosing altitude. The tracker was still going at apx. 2:00 am central time with an
altitude of apx. 55 miles.
Ok, this has been explained about a million times, but clear it needs to be explained at least a million times more.
The website you're looking at does NOT track the satellite, nor any other satellite.
What it does in fact is to use a set of numbers that describe the satellite's orbit, and run mathematical calculations to predict mathematically where
it should be at any given time. If/when the satellite reenters, that tracking website will not "know" about it.
This is the same for all satellite tracking websites.
Its a purely mathematical calculation.
You can download programs that let you do the same on your own computer.
edit on 16-1-2012 by alfa1 because: (no reason given)