NASA satellite’s re-entry location is a mystery
26 Sep 2011
The 12,500-pound decommissioned UARS satellite finally made its re-entry through Earth's atmosphere around midnight Friday, NASA said early Saturday. But there was no knowledge of exactly where or when the fiery re-entry took place.
"We may never know," said Nicholas Johnson, NASA's chief orbital debris scientist.
The Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) fell back to Earth between 11:23 p.m. Friday and 1:09 a.m. Saturday, NASA said in an update on its website.
According to the Joint Space Operations Center at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California the satellite penetrated the atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean. NASA said it was not known when exactly the satellite hit Earth and whether it ended up in water or on land.
It probably plunged into the Pacific Ocean, perhaps somewhere between Hawaii and the western coast of North America.
Since officials have yet to determine precisely when or where the satellite penetrated the earth's atmosphere, they are unable to figure out where pieces of the school-bus-size satellite landed.
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