Nasa satellite visible above UK before crashing to Earth

[Eric Mc]

JonnyFive said:

Nothing here in Surrey. Very clear out there, but didn't see any satellite.

Bloody cold out there, isn't it!

It wasn't going to be visible unless it was actually re-entering and burning up.

[Oakey]

when's the next pass, it seems to be all over the place. Over Oz now

[spudt8]

1:05 over sussex. Still not a visible one.

[odyssey2200]

http://www.lizard-tail.com/isana/tracking/?target=...

The pass after next seems to be the best viewing for the Uk

[hidetheelephants]

JonnyFive said:

eharding said:

probably next door's cat out there again.....just popping out to see what it is.....

Won't be seeing him again.

Anyway, moving on..

But we haven't all gone blind yet, this is all wrong!

[philthy]

I've been watching all night, but not seen anything.
It looks like it is going to smash into an ocean somewhere, but if it absolutely has to smack into an inhabited area, can we all pray for Swindon please?

[Soir]

philthy said:

I've been watching all night, but not seen anything.
It looks like it is going to smash into an ocean somewhere, but if it absolutely has to smack into an inhabited area, can we all pray for Swindon please?

That's an awful thing to say. (I will be praying for Bradford!)

[anonymous-user]

So it's all done but nobody knows yet where it landed?

[Flipatron]

So there I was standing in the back garden at 2.30am worrying the neighbours......BTW, what's all this about a satellite?

[Eric Mc]

Radio 4 just announced that some Brits saw parts of the satellite re-entering at around 5.00 am. Did it re-enter over Northern Europe, I wonder?

[Mojocvh]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-1503...

Pacific splashdown.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2011/0924/satellite.html

Canada impact.

Well it's somewhere!

[-Pete-]

It's in my garden, still a bit hot but as soon as it stops smoking I'll stick it on eBay, 7 days, no reserve, starting price 1p.

Oh, I've been beaten to it:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Satellite-UARS-option-bi...

[Simpo Two]

My neighbour has a bit of a gouge in their front lawn. It was either a piece of satellite or a wheel came off their lawnmower.

[philthy]

Soir said:

philthy said:

I've been watching all night, but not seen anything.
It looks like it is going to smash into an ocean somewhere, but if it absolutely has to smack into an inhabited area, can we all pray for Swindon please?

That's an awful thing to say. (I will be praying for Bradford!)

Bradford was my first choice, but I've only ever visited, not lived there, so decided on Swindon instead.

[AshVX220]

So, does anyone know where this Satellite came down? The tracking websie posted earlier has it in D.R. Congo?

[jmorgan]

If it hit water we may never know.

[AshVX220]

jmorgan said:

If it hit water we may never know.

Surely NASA would have been tracking it all the way down, they'll know exactly where it came down probably to within less than 100 miles (I'd have thought).

[Eric Mc]

AshVX220 said:

jmorgan said:

If it hit water we may never know.

Surely NASA would have been tracking it all the way down, they'll know exactly where it came down probably to within less than 100 miles (I'd have thought).

How do you track a satellite?

Obviously, over land, particlularly the continental US and Europe, there will be air defence radars (such as Fylingsdales) which can monitor precisely how high a satellite is and how fast it is travelling. However, there are vast swathes of the Earth where no such radar coverage is possible and I would expect that if the satellite came down in one of these blank spots it would be difficult to find out precisely where it hit the ground. Don't forget, that the satellite would have begun its re-entry at 17,000 mph per hour, which is about 5 miles per second. It would only take 20 seconds to cover 100 miles.

And, of course, NASA has precious little resources of this type - certainly not on a global basis. It depends on the defence resources of various countries, including the US, to provide it with radar tracking data.

[MonkeyHanger]

Eric Mc said:

(such as Fylingsdales)

Standards really are slipping around here. It's Fylingdales.

[eharding]

MonkeyHanger said:

Eric Mc said:

(such as Fylingsdales)

Standards really are slipping around here. It's Fylingdales.

[Mad Scary Eyed Flute Bloke]

Greeeeeen Screeeeen Liaaaaaar.........

[/Mad Scary Eyed Flute Bloke]