NASA reassured about dead satellite fragments

The debris of the US Air and Space Administration's (NASA) Aviation satellite is expected to fall to Earth in September, but most in the ocean or uninhabited region, Reuters quoted US officials as reassuring. .

>>> Space garbage weighs more than 6 tons about to fall to earth

The Atmospheric Research (UARS) satellite weighs about 6 tons, was put into orbit by the space shuttle crew in 1991 and stopped operating in 2005, both burned and broken in space will fall Earth in September but the location has not been determined.

Picture 1 of NASA reassured about dead satellite fragments
NASA's UARS debris will fall into space in September

In a telephone conference, the deputy head of the space warnings department of the US Strategic Command Michael Ducan said that it could not be determined because the atmosphere changed day by day.

The story of satellite fragments and missiles falling back to earth is nothing new. There were about 400 fragments falling last year. The UARS spacecraft - about 10 meters long, 4.5 meters in diameter - falls once a year. The heaviest mass usually belongs to the structure of the spacecraft, sometimes up to 150kg.

The head of NASA's Orbital Fragment Program - Nicholas Johnson - said most UARS were burnt in the atmosphere, but on average there were 26 individual pieces of a total of 500kg. However, debris often falls into an ocean or an unpopulated area.

Mr. Johnson said: 'According to statistics, fragments rarely fall into residential areas. In the past 54 years, there is no information that shows that fragments from space hurt anyone . ' NASA said the probability of a person hit by a UARS fragment is 1 / 3,200.