NASA Satellite to Crash to Earth Friday [Update]
[UPDATE | Sept. 22, 10:30 a.m. PDT: According to the latest projections, the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) will not crash anywhere near North America. NASA said that they had narrowed down the impact window to sometime Friday afternoon EDT. ]
Earthlings need not worry about having a heavy space satellite fall on top of them. Scientists have pegged the odds of space matter hitting someone at 1-in-3,200. In addition, the satellite will break into pieces once it enters the Earth's atmosphere, with most of it burning up.
Twelve-hundred pounds of space debris is expected to crash to Earth, which is only one-tenth of the mass of the satellite.
Experts expect to have a more precise time of the crash by Thursday, narrowing the potential time frame down to a few hours. If the crash happens when it's dark outside, it should be visible to the naked eye.
Because of the satellite's high speed--5 miles per second, or 17,500 mph--a prediction that's off by a few minutes could mean a 1,000-mile error in crash location.
