There's a satellite plummeting to Earth

[blogslut]

The BBC sez: "Don't Panic" - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24879140

'Don't panic': One-tonne satellite falling to Earth

9 November 2013 Last updated at 21:19 GMT

A one-tonne satellite is falling out of control and is likely to crash into the Earth sometime during the weekend, scientists have warned.

The Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Explorer was launched in March 2009, to study changes in sea level, ocean circulation and the planet's gravitational field.

It has now run out of fuel and is spiralling back to Earth.

The European Space Agency says it cannot predict exactly where, or when, but that it is highly unlikely to cause any casualties.

Tim Allman reports.

Just the same, to be on the safe side, find your towel and track the lil' bugger here:

http://www.satflare.com/track.asp?q=34602#TOP

(scroll down for live geo-mappy goodness)

[jakeXT]

1. Chances of a human being hit were about 65,000 times lower than getting struck by lightning.

But don't fret. The chances of you getting hit by a chunk of the satellite are close to zero. ESA spacecraft operations manager Christoph Steiger says the chances of a human being hit were about 65,000 times lower than getting struck by lightning.

Though it has happened before.

In 1997, Lottie Williams was walking in a park in Tulsa, Oklahoma when she was hit on the shoulder by a piece of metal. The metal was later confirmed to be a piece of a Delta II rocket, reported Oklahoma's local news station.

Ms Williams was not injured in that incident, but said she was really scared when she felt something fall on her shoulder.

http://www.news.com.au/technology/science/goce-satellite-will-crash-into-earth/story-fnjwlcze-1226756789941

[davidpdx]

13. True

There is a lot of space junk floating around up there. I can't see how it isn't viewed as littering just as if you throw a wrapper on the ground on earth. I know that it is hard to get rid of the stuff once it becomes useless, but it seems like no one is even trying nor gives a shit about it.

We need some smart people to figure out how to get rid of the crap.

I think tying a bunch of it together and then launching a probe with a giant hook at a comet passing by would be one idea. The stuff would eventually burn up or go further out into outer space.

[Denninmi]

14. Hey, could happen. Actually, already did

(Well, per Hollywood)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0662393/

[blogslut]

2. Ooh, It's nearing South America

ZOMG, it might hit Texas! Bam, right through my apartment roof!

Is this why I keep having dreams about a scary bunny named Frank?

[blogslut]

3. Whew! I'm safe. Yay, spinny Earth.

Down down it goes. 152-ish kilometers away. Looking like it'll prolly crash into the sea (ocean, big water, whatever).

[alphafemale]

4. I once got to see some sort of space junk re-enter.

It is all flame out and a trail of sparks. And fairly slow moving.

Not really at all like a meteorite.

[blogslut]

5. Cool.

I am making more of it than need be but what the hell, I'm old. I get to yell at the sky now.

[alphafemale]

6. lol. On my top ten list of Cool Shit I've Seen

Still top of the list is:

When I was about ten and I went outside. (lived in the country) And our dog is barking madly at a tree. It was a Liver and White Springer Spanial. Not that that is important. But Spanials are not generally neurotic dogs that you would expect to bark at random trees. And also painting a picture in your mind a bit.

I shushed the dog and realize the tree was...groaning. One of the old gnarled apple trees on our back acres. Apples in a strictly genetic sense. They were hard, mealy, sour things. Suitable only to twist onto a pointed stick to launch as a projectile at your best friends head.

But anyway the tree was groaning.

Then suddenly it split nearly in half.

I witnessed a Treeicide. lol

[blogslut]

7. No wonder them apples were bad.

Sickly tree.

Never heard of one just up and splitting in half. What a unique thing to have seen.

[alphafemale]

8. There were maybe close to a dozen old fruit trees on the property

We joked that Johnny Appleseed planted the apple trees sometimes because they seemed so old.

There were a couple of pear trees who's fruit was marginally edible. A cherry tree we fought a losing battle with birds to get even one cherry each year.

A black walnut tree.

Ever wonder why black walnuts are so expensive? You need a hammer and chisel to get to the meat.

[blogslut]

9. How lovely

...to have such a selection. Sounds like a nice place.

[whistler162]

10. I will refer you to "The Big Block of Cheese" episode

of the West Wing

[In_The_Wind]

11. If it falls in my yard, can I keep it ?

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/09/21/woman-gets-hit-by-space-junk-lives-to-tell-tale/

[jakeXT]

12. I think the CPU is cooked in the next hour

Spacecraft still functioning nominally in Fine Pointing Mode, as seen in the last Troll pass just taken at 21:16 UTC. Temperature of central computer and battery now around 64 degC (some converters of the central computer already at 80 degC). Next possible visibility again over Troll at 22:42 UTC.

http://blogs.esa.int/rocketscience/