Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]
Add Reply
  • Pages:
  • 1
European GOCE satellite falling to Earth ( It Could hit Sardinia); The European GOCE satellite is falling uncontrollably to Earth
Topic Started: Nov 9 2013, 10:04 PM (710 Views)
Enigma
Member Avatar


timetables and possible areas of impact

Posted Image

Posted Image

:fear:


Quote:
 


Posted Image

A one-tonne satellite is falling uncontrollably towards the Earth. It is expected to hit sometime late this weekend or early next week. No one knows exactly when or where it will smash down but it is likely to fragment into 25-45 pieces en route.

Written in those terms it sounds like pretty scary stuff, and indeed the news is making headlines across the web. Many seem to have been triggered by a piece in the New York Times, titled Satellite Will Fall to Earth, But No One Is Sure Where.

Perhaps a more sensible headline would have been Satellite Will Fall to Earth, But No One Need Worry Too Much.

The spacecraft in question is the European Space Agency's Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) mission. Since 2009, GOCE has been measuring the Earth's gravitational field with exquisite sensitivity.

To do this it has maintained an extremely low orbit of about 280 kilometres. Now that the fuel is gone, there is no way for it to fight the gravitational field it has been mapping. Mission controllers knew that an uncontrollable fall would be the inevitable end of the mission. So, why would they take such a risk?

The answer is simple. It is because there are so many natural meteorites falling to Earth that this satellite presents almost no danger.

According to Cornell University's Ask and Astronomer webpage, between 18,000 and 84,000 meteorites bigger than 10 grams hit the Earth every year. Not all of these survive to strike the ground.

The total amount of mass contained in a year's worth of meteorites is about 37,000-78,000 tonnes, or 101–214 tonnes per day. So, another tonne from GOCE represents an increase of just 0.5-1% on the day.

To put the numbers into clear context, the Chelyabinsk meteor that struck Russia on 15 February 2013, injuring people and causing wide-spread damage, is estimated to have been 12,000–13,000 times more massive than GOCE.

Although GOCE is metaphorically (and hopefully literally) a drop in the ocean, such a cavalier ending to a space mission is now frowned upon by international agreement. Future satellites are being designed to include engines that will allow them to be aimed towards the ocean if they are going to re-enter.

GOCE is currently less than 190km in altitude and dropping by more than 4km a day. As it encounters denser layers of the atmosphere, the fall will quicken. Currently, ESA estimate that the satellite will hit the ground on Sunday or Monday.

An international campaign to monitor the descent is taking place through ESA's Space Debris Office and the Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee.

http://www.theguardian.com/science/across-the-universe/2013/nov/07/european-goce-satellite-falling-earth


Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Dust Devil
Member Avatar


Satellite in caduta sulla Terra. Protezione civile, "Rischi per l'Italia"

Satellite falling to earth. Civil Protection: "risks for Italy"


alerts by the civil protection in case of impact:
"it's rare that such satellite can cause the collapse of building structures, however the satellite's fragments can impact against buildings causing damages. It's recommended that in case of impact people are inside a house, the lower floors are safer places. "



Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Angioy
Member Avatar


As in Armageddon, but for real, great!
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Dust Devil
Member Avatar


If tomorrow this forum will lose great part of its members, it means that they probably are died in the impact. :P
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Angioy
Member Avatar


Dust Devil
Nov 10 2013, 12:56 AM
If tomorrow this forum will lose great part of its members, it means that they probably are died in the impact. :P
Included you, probably! :yes:
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Dust Devil
Member Avatar


Juanne
Nov 10 2013, 12:58 AM
Included you, probably! :yes:
I'm not on the satellite's trajectory, here! Posted Image :D
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Pinkulilly
Member Avatar


I'm seriously thinking to go to sleep at the basement, tonight. :(
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Babborcu
Member Avatar


Pinkulilly
Nov 10 2013, 03:10 AM
I'm seriously thinking to go to sleep at the basement, tonight. :(
You need an atomic shelter to be safe, the artificial satellite will fall at the speed of a bullet, and it has a weight of 1 tone.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Pinkulilly
Member Avatar


Babborcu
Nov 10 2013, 03:27 AM
You need an atomic shelter to be safe, the artificial satellite will fall at the speed of a bullet, and it has a weight of 1 tone.
Then we can only pray that it doesn't fall on us. :please:
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Raingirl
Member Avatar


Dust Devil
Nov 10 2013, 12:56 AM
If tomorrow this forum will lose great part of its members, it means that they probably are died in the impact. :P
We are still alive, for now! ;)
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous)
Go to Next Page
« Previous Topic · News · Next Topic »
Add Reply
  • Pages:
  • 1

Under Pressure created by sakuragi-kun of the Zetaboards Themezone
Flag Counter