NASA is bringing down some space garbage tonight, and this is a big one, 17 tons. They will try to put it down between Hawaii and the Galapagos Islands, around 12:30 - 1:00 a.m. Pacific Time, so those in CA, NV, AZ, Mexico, and Australia should have a good view. Please let us know what you see, and get pictures if possible.

story

NASA details

-- Hawk (flyin@hi.again), June 04, 2000

Answers

The debris field is supposed to be about 1,000 miles long, so if you live on the west coast of South America, better hope it doesn't "skip". It is now 9:15 Pacific Time, so be on your toes in about 3 hours. :-)

-- Hawk (flyin@hi.again), June 04, 2000.

OOOPS! Looks like the time has been moved up, the final re-entry burn will be at 10:30, and impact is expected around 11:20 Pacific Time.

look out below, she's comin in hot!

-- Hawk (flyin@hi.again), June 04, 2000.

-- Hawk (flyin@hi.again), June 04, 2000.

Interesting.

The debris field is supposed to be about 1,000 miles long Wow!

From one of the links above:

Unlike most satellites, Compton is too large to burn up entirely in the atmosphere during re-entry. More than 6 tons (12,400 pounds) of metal debris is expected to fall to the Earth's surface. The debris fragments will range in size from the size of a small stone to several hundred pounds or kilograms.

To ensure the safety of aircraft and surface vessels in or near the target impact area, Debris Hazard Warning Areas were established well away from land. Shipping and air traffic in the area have been notified to ensure that craft will not be in the vicinity of the impact area.

-- CD (costavike@hotmail.com), June 04, 2000.

Do these satellites carry radioactive material, like the one which crashed in Canada did?

-- Deb M. (vmcclell@columbus.rr.com), June 04, 2000.

Deb M. (vmcclell@columbus.rr.com),

>Do these satellites carry radioactive material, like the one which crashed in Canada did?

This one, the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory, did not carry radioactive material. It was powered by solar arrays.

AFAIK, all of NASA's other astronomical satellites _in Earth orbits_ (such as the Hubble Space Telescope and its cousin the Chandra X-Ray Observatory) are entirely solar-powered, also. Only space probes sent to Jupiter or farther from the Sun have electrical generators using radioactive isotopes (because the lower sunlight that far out would require prohibitively large and heavy solar arrays to provide sufficient electricity).

-- No Spam Please (nos_pam_please@hotmail.com), June 07, 2000.