7 types of machines fell from the sky

Will spacecraft fragments fall to Earth, do they threaten our lives?

Listed 7 types of machines falling from the sky "threatening" the Earth

According to US Air Force monitoring data, on May 8, 2014, Russia's unmanned spacecraft M-27M Progress was out of control when carrying out the mission of supplying astronauts and working. down to Earth's atmosphere.

Information from Russian space agency Roscosmos said the Progress M-27M carried more than three tons of cargo including food, fuel and supplies needed for astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS), okay. launched from Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan on April 28.

However, the ship was out of control and fell from orbit at 2:04 'GMT on May 8, 2014 (about 9:04 am Vietnamese time). At that time, the ship was flying through the Pacific region.

Much of the ship is believed to have caught fire during a high-altitude slowdown, but small pieces of the vehicle may still " survive " and fall into the ocean.

This event prompted many people to recall some of the satellites that once fell into Earth in history. Let's review some events like that through the summary of the Space page below.

1. Pegasus 2

Proposed by NASA in 1965 , this 11.6-ton satellite is responsible for studying the existence of micro-meteorites orbiting the Earth's orbit.

Pegasus collected the data and sent it to Earth within 3 years, then stopped working. It remained in orbit until 11 years later and returned home on November 3, 1979.Its fragments plunged into the midst of the Atlantic Ocean.

2. Skylab satellite

Launched in 1973 , the satellite named Skylab weighs 85 tons and is assigned to three missions in space and is expected to return home a decade later.

However, Skylab returned earlier than expected due to the inability of scientists at the NASA Center.On July 11, 1979, Skylab plunged into the atmosphere to return to Earth.

Fragments of the satellites are determined to fall on the Indian Ocean and Western Australia. Several other fragments were discovered in southeastern Perth and several other places. Fortunately, no one was injured because of the satellite fragments.

3. Cosmos satellite 954

Although Cosmos 954 is not the largest satellite, it is considered the most formidable satellite.

Weighing 3.8 tons, Cosmos 954 was launched in 1977 with the aim of monitoring the operation of the US nuclear submarine. Without solar panels, Cosmos 954 is equipped with a nuclear reactor system that provides fuel for operation.

But this makes it more frightening when it falls on Earth.On January 24, 1978, Cosmos 954 plunged into the atmosphere and "donated" the pieces of Cosmos to Northwest Canada.

Radioactive debris spread over a large area , prompting the Canadian government to request the Soviet Union to pay $ 6 million (about VND 130 billion) of cleaning and remedial fees. However, the Soviet Union only agreed to pay 3 million USD (about 65 billion VND) to Toronto.

4. Salyut 7

In 1982, the Salyut 7 satellite was put into space by the Soviet Union in the program of building 9 'stations ' outside the universe.

During her 9 years of operation, Salyut 7 welcomed 6 different crews to do research missions outside the space.

With a length of about 16m, 4.15m wide at the widest point, the total volume of Salyut 7 satellite is estimated at 22 tons.

In 1986, the station was anchored to a high orbit with a salvage plan by shuttle Buran. However, following Skylab's call, Salyut 7 finally went back into the atmosphere and broke in the sky of Argentina after the Buran program was canceled. Many reports show that the explosion did not cause any casualties.

5. UARS satellite

The satellite tracks the 6.5-ton atmospheric floor with a length of 10.7m, which is 4.5m wide and is put on orbit by NASA's Discovery shuttle in September 1991.

With the task of conducting research on the Earth's atmosphere for 14 years, UARS has been evaluated to have many contributions to scientists.

During its operation, UARS satellites have collected as well as transmitted to the Earth a lot of information obtained on the atmosphere.

In December 2005, this $ 750 million satellite (about VND 16,300 billion) stopped working.On the night of 23rd and 23 September 2011, the satellite plunged into Earth and fell towards Canada, Africa, some parts of the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Ocean.

NASA said, they did not receive this casualty report after the "landing" UARS satellite on Earth.

6. Space shuttle Columbia

Space shuttle Columbia was in distress on February 1, 2003 when she was returning home after 16 days on a mission. All 7 astronauts were killed by the ship exploding during landing.

The investigation was conducted to show that it was the left-wing heat shield of the damaged Columbia that caused the disaster.

The piece of foam insulating from the fuel tank falling off during takeoff on January 16 is the cause of a big hole in the left wing of the ship.

The puncture caused hot air to enter the interior of the ship during friction with the atmosphere, causing the Columbia ship explosion.Fragments of the ship weigh more than 100 tons fell scattered in northeastern Texas, USA.

Although no one on the ground was injured, the departure of the Columbia marked the second fatal disaster of NASA's 30-year shuttle program.

7. Satellite GOCE

GOCE satellite flew into space in March 2009 . Due to its low-level operation, the European Space Agency's (GOCE) GOCE brings more engines and fuel storage tanks, helping to counteract the gravity of the planet.

However, after about three weeks, when the fuel is exhausted, GOCE plunges indefinitely to the surface of the Earth.

According to experts, the satellite GOCE operates at a height of 224km compared to the sea level, cannot completely burn during the process of rubbing against the Earth's atmosphere, so it can cause disaster when touching ground. However, scientists have yet to determine exactly where the satellite's fragment is.

What will happen if Russian spacecraft falls to Earth?

It is a fact that spacecraft and cargo on spacecraft can ignite in the atmosphere and the remaining debris will fall to Earth. However, most small-sized debris is completely burnt in the process of rubbing against the Earth's atmosphere.

In the case of large fragments that do not burn out, the chances of them falling on humans are also very low by ¾ of the Earth's area covered by oceans. Still, the spacecraft's fragment is still one of the risks that people worry about.

According to the Gizmodo news site, if it is possible to control the spacecraft's path, danger will not occur when it approaches the Earth's surface. If the condition is similar to the case of the UARS satellite that fell to Earth in September 2011, the probability of harm to humans is 1: 3,200.