Space junk falling to Earth

[TheMercenary]

I don't know, let's look at some common odds....


Dying in an aircraft or plane crash:

http://planecrashinfo.com/cause.htm

How about from a host of things:

http://www.blog.joelx.com/odds-chances-of-dying/877/

Ever hear of people dying in a place crash? Those are some pretty high odds, but it certainly happens.

[Lamplighter]

I had a co-worker who used the same sort of thinking to justify his buying tickets to the Lottery...

"Somebody's got to win it, it might as well be me"

Another co-worker stood up and said: "Give me your dollar".
She walked over to the toilet and flushed it, and said:

"Your odds are better finding it again at the treatment plant."

[TheMercenary]

[Clodfobble]

Yeah, but what are the odds of finding $50 million dollars at the treatment plant, huh?

(Answer: not as bad as they were, now that there's a person flushing everyone's $1 bills down their toilets for them...)

[infinite monkey]

Originally Posted by Clodfobble

Yeah, but what are the odds of finding $50 million dollars at the treatment plant, huh?

(Answer: not as bad as they were, now that there's a person flushing everyone's $1 bills down their toilets for them...)

I'm speechless. This reply is too awesome!

[TheMercenary]

Just put on a helmet and hunker down in your closet.

[Lamplighter]

PDX news media is all a twitter. The space station is supposed to pass over the city in about 25 min (from WSW towards the NE).

Does anyone have an extra helmet ?

[Lamplighter]

Nothing...

Slight overcast and city lights so only brighter stars are visible.
I thought I saw a shooting star, but it was from E -> W

[classicman]

Experts are still unsure of exactly where that will be, although the latest predictions are somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, southwest of Hawaii.

Mark Matney, NASA orbital debris scientist: "Something has changed about the spacecraft, either its orientation and/or its shape, in such a way that the drag rate has dropped slightly, the aerodynamic forces are less. As a result, it has delayed the time of re-entry."

[CzinZumerzet]

Listening to the Today programme on BBC Radio 4 this morning they reported that it was down 'somewhere between Canada and Russia' which was a trifle vague, but within a few minutes they had eye witness reports from two people I think in North East Scotland who each reported seeing large fragments going overhead toward the east. Russia? Home to popa?

[Sundae]

I heard Canada too, but it was on 5 Live, so the same BBC source effectively.

[classicman]

from the AP

NASA's dead 6-ton satellite plunged to Earth early Saturday, but more than eight hours later, U.S. space officials didn't know just where it hit. They thought the fiery fall was largely over water and the debris probably hurt no one.

The bus-sized satellite first penetrated Earth's atmosphere somewhere over the Pacific Ocean, according to NASA and the U.S. Air Force's Joint Space Operations Center. But that doesn't necessarily mean it all fell into the sea.

NASA's earlier calculations had predicted that the 20-year-old former climate research satellite would fall over a 500-mile swath and could include land.

Because the plummet began over the ocean and given the lack of any reports of people being hit, that "gives us a good feeling that no one was hurt," but officials didn't know for certain, NASA spokesman Steve Cole told The Associated Press.

The two government agencies said the 35-foot satellite fell sometime between 11:23 p.m. EDT Friday and 1:09 a.m. EDT Saturday, but with no precise time or location.

There was rampant speculation on the Internet and Twitter, much of it focusing on unconfirmed reports and even video of debris over Alberta, Canada.

Cole said that was possible because the last track for the satellite included Canada, starting north of Seattle and then in a large arc north then south. From there, the track continued through the Atlantic south toward Africa, but it was unlikely the satellite got that far if it started falling over the Pacific.

Cole said NASA was hoping for more details from the Air Force, which was responsible for tracking debris.

But given where the satellite may have fallen, officials may never quite know precisely.

"Most space debris is in the ocean. It'll be hard to confirm," Cole said.

Some 26 pieces of the satellite representing 1,200 pounds of heavy metal had been expected to rain down somewhere. The biggest surviving chunk should be no more than 300 pounds.

NO more than???

[Sundae]

Phew. There is space junk that weighs considerably more than me.

What?
You take your pleasure where you can find it!

[infinite monkey]

They can put a man on the moon but they can't track space junk.

[tw]

I had some big nets out. Was hoping to catch a windfall profit.