The Sky is Not Falling, But a Satellite Is

September 21, 2011 — Chicken Little may have thought that the sky was falling when an acorn fell on his head in the popular children’s fable. But NASA is warning that a satellite is expected to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere sometime on or around Friday, September 23. Click here for the latest prediction on its time and place of re-entry. Re-entry of NASA's Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite, or UARS, was originally expected in late September or early October 2011, almost six years after its mission was complete. NASA reported that the satellite will break into pieces during re-entry, and not all of it will burn up in the atmosphere. However, the space agency said on its website that the risk to public safety or property is very small, with USA Today reporting a 1-in-3,200 risk of hitting someone. "Since the beginning of the Space Age in the late-1950s, there have been no confirmed reports of an injury resulting from re-entering space objects,” NASA reported. “Nor is there a record of significant property damage resulting from a satellite re-entry.” Depending on the exact altitude at which the satellite's final plunge starts, most likely on Friday, the debris could scatter anywhere from Siberia to South America, USA Today reported. UARS is 35 feet long, 15 feet in diameter, and weighs 13,000 pounds. It carries 10 instruments, six of which are still functioning. However, the 20-year-old atmospheric research satellite is expected to break into more than 100 pieces as it enters the atmosphere, most of it burning up, the Austin American-Statesman reported. Twenty-six of the heaviest metal parts are expected to reach Earth, the biggest chunk weighing about 300 pounds. The debris could be scattered over an area about 500 miles long. NASA advises that if you find something that may be a piece of UARS, do not touch it and contact local law enforcement. UARS was originally launched in 1991 by the Space Shuttle Discovery and was decommissioned in 2005 after completing its mission. The satellite measured chemical compounds found in the ozone layer, wind and temperature in the stratosphere, and the energy input from the sun, according to NASA.		NASA's Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite, or UARS, is expected to re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere on or around Friday. Image credit: NASA An artist's rendering of UARS. Image credit: NASA

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