- News, Southern Hemisphere Sky Events

German X-ray ROSAT satellite to re-enter this Sunday

The German X-Ray Satellite ROSAT is forecast to re-enter the atmosphere (most likely) this Sunday Australian time (23 October 2011). At this stage, the uncertainty is possibly up to 72 hours either way of Sunday. I have my fingers crossed that I get to see it re-enter as it should produce an extremely bright fireball visible in daylight. It is not possible to predict what part of the world it will re-enter over, but it does pass over Australia regularly.

Up to 1,600 kg of the satellite is expected to survive re-entry and whatever crashes to Earth will impact with a speed of around 450 k/m an hour. According to the German Space Agency, there is a 1 in 2,000 chance that someone will be hit by debris from the satellite.

 

 

 

 

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