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Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite de-orbit time firms up

The re-entry of NASA’s Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) is rapidly drawing closer. NASA still has to issue an official de-orbit time. That is understandable given that the satellite is out of fuel, and therefore out of control. At the time of writing this, the NASA website states that re-entry is expected to be around 23 September 2011 (plus or minus a day).

That said, the reliable German satellite prediction website Calsky.com is predicting that UARS will either land or decay on 24 September 2011 at 2½ UTC. That corresponds to 12.30 pm (ie. just after Noon) Australian Eastern Standard time on Saturday 24 September 2011.

Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) Image courtesy NASA

I will be keeping my fingers crossed and hoping that UARS stays in the sky for a couple of hours longer.  There is a pass visible a few hours later from Southern Australia if UARS is still up there. I would love to see a bright satellite decay overhead in daylight.

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