Where oh where did the satellite crash?

William Atkins
Monday, 24 October 2011 22:44

Science - Space

The defunct German satellite ROSAT came plunging back to Earth early on Sunday, October 23, 2011, but we're not really sure where pieces of it landed after surviving its dramatic descent through Earth's atmosphere.

Some aerospace officials think ROSAT went down somewhere in Southeast Asia. But, confirmation of debris on the Earth has yet to come in.

The Washington Post article 'Scientist: Falling German satellite must have crashed into Southeast Asia, no debris is seen yet' states, 'Calculations based on U.S. military data indicate that satellite debris must have crashed somewhere east of Sri Lanka over the Indian Ocean, or over the Andaman Sea off the coast of Myanmar, or further inland in Myanmar or as far inland as China'¦.'

What we do know is that the satellite entered the atmosphere around 9:45 p.m. to 10:15 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on Saturday, October 22, 2011 (0145 to 0215 Greenwich Mean Time on Sunday, October 23, 2011).

People tracking the ROSAT said it was unlikely for it to have impacted Africa, Australia, or Europe.

Fox News said in its article 'Defunct German Satellite Hits Earth in Fiery Death Dive' that personnel at the German Aerospace Center stated, "Mission controllers initially estimated that ROSAT could fall to Earth in November, but increased solar activity caused the satellite's orbit to decay faster than originally expected. As the sun's activity ramps up, it heats up and expands the atmosphere, which creates more drag on satellites in orbit'

And, 'There is currently no confirmation if pieces of debris have reached Earth's surface."

 

There is a chance that it was all destroyed before getting to Earth's surface. But, projections were that some of the larger pieces would survive the plunge back to Earth.