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Thread ID: 121358	2011-10-22 20:06:00	Odds = 1 In 14 Trillion	SurferJoe46 (51)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
1239159	2011-10-22 20:06:00	Everybody - well, a LOT of people were moaning and agonizing over the last US satellite and it's re-entry to the Earth's atmosphere - and yet no-one is doing the same for the next one . But it's a German satellite this time, so I guess it isn't near the same threat, even though the ramifications of the German re-entry is much worse numerically that the US one . I guess US satellites are much more dangerous . Hmmm . Wonder why's dat? A German satellite is expected to fall back to Earth Sunday, marking the second time a satellite has hit Earth in the past month, an occurence (sic) that typically happens only once per year . Last month UARS re-entered the atmosphere, and now ROSAT is barreling back toward Earth, too . ROSAT, which was designed to map X-rays in the sky, was launched on a Delta 2 rocket from Florida in 1990 . While functioning in space, ROSAT found roughly 110,000 stars, supernovas and cosmic rays emitting X-rays . The German Space Agency is putting the chances at one in 2,000 that someone will be struck by a piece of ROSAT . That works out to odds of about one in 14 trillion that any one of the 7 billion or so people on Earth will be whacked by a piece of the satellite . The threat of someone being hit by a piece of UARS was one in 3,200 . The remnants ended up falling in the remote Pacific Ocean . Historic View of a Comet Watch Video Satellite Crashes Into Earth Watch Video NASA: Satellite to Fall From Sky Watch Video ROSAT will likely end up in the sea as well, since 75 percent of Earth is covered by water . Still, it's too soon to tell where it will crash . It's something that the U . S . space agency and the German space agency, who are monitoring ROSAT's re-entry, won't be able to tell until hours before re-entry . Solar activity is the prime force that will determine how quickly the satellite falls back to earth . NASA orbital debris scientist Mark Matney told ABC News there is a lot of junk up in space waiting to come down on us . "The U . S . space Surveillance Network has catalogued (sic) 16 thousand things in Earth orbit, many of them are quite small pieces of debris, but about 7,000 of those are large objects, spacecraft and large rocket bodies, we have made quite a mess up there," Matney said . Germany's ROSAT X-ray astronomy satellite is smaller than UARS but is a bigger threat because most of the satellite is made of heat resistant components, including its 880-pound primary mirror, which will be the single largest fragment to survive re-entry . It's estimated that up to 3,750 pounds of the decaying satellite could survive re-entry .	SurferJoe46 (51)
1239160	2011-10-22 20:09:00	Estimated landing zone ... Eden Park ... 8.55pm NZ time ... :D	SP8's (9836)
1239161	2011-10-22 21:53:00	More chance of winning Lotto than being hit by this satellite. I feel safe.	Bobh (5192)
1239162	2011-10-22 23:40:00	Follow it here http://www.n2yo.com/	Zippity (58)
1239163	2011-10-22 23:55:00	Looking at the projected path it will pass north over the Tasman Sea missing Australia and New Zealand. Whew. :clap	Bobh (5192)
1239164	2011-10-23 00:26:00	It missed New Zealand by at least 1000 km and is now heading toward California. Joe had better duck.	Bobh (5192)
1239165	2011-10-23 03:43:00	Last update: 23 October 2011, 02:45 UTC (04:45 CEST) On Sunday, 23 October 2011, between 1:45 UTC (3:45 CEST) and 2:15 UTC (4:15 CEST) the german ROentgen SATellite ROSAT has re-entered Earth's atmosphere. There is currently no confirmation if pieces of debris have reached Earth's surface.	Zippity (58)
1239166	2011-10-23 05:24:00	It hasn't hit me, I reckon it would be (almost) more likely that Norton s AV would work well. On second thought, Nortons working is about as likely as every piece of the satellite hitting a different trampoline and spontaneosly reassembling in orbit.	R2x1 (4628)
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