The sky is falling! 08.15.11

*UPDATE: NASA is now saying that they expect UARS to make impact at some point late tonight or early tomorrow morning. While it is impossible to pinpoint its exact crash site now, they estimate it will be somewhere off the coast of the Philippines. For NASA’s information about the UARS mission, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/uars/index.html.


The sky is falling! Well, not exactly. Something in the sky is falling, though. A 13,000-pound research satellite, to be precise. The word from NASA is to keep an eye out for falling debris.

UARS. Image credit: SPACE.com.

UARS, or the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite, has said its farewells to space and will be returning to Earth. NASA is slightly nervous about the giant research satellite, though, because it will be a true free-fall back to earth. What is more: they have no idea where the pieces that survive re-entry back into earth’s atmosphere will land.


According to NASA, they estimate about 1,000 pounds of the satellite will crash back into Earth, but will probably break up in the atmosphere and descend in a rain of debris that could cover an area about 500 miles in length.


As of right now, they cannot predict where or even when the remains of the satellite should make it back to Earth, but should be able to begin calculating it’s projected landfall about four days before it lands. They estimate it should be “landing” at the end of this month, or in early October. As it becomes closer and closer to Earth, they will attempt to give proper warning about the projected landing area.


According to NASA, no injuries have ever been reported due to re-entering space program equipment, and only minor property damage has ever been reported.


Just the same, we recommend keeping your eyes and ears open just in case UARS decides to land near you.


Credit: SPACE.com.

Playing tag with a "trojan," 08.05.11

Astronomers have recently discovered that Earth is not alone. It seems our planet is being followed, or our Earth is following something else, depending on how you look at it. Earth’s orbit is being shared by an object that astronomers refer to as a “trojan” asteroid.

Thanks to data gathered from the NEOWISE project, astronomers have discovered that there is an asteroid roughly 1,000 feet in diameter that shares almost the exact same orbit as Earth as it travels around the sun. While the asteroid, dubbed 2010 TK7, does at times travel above, below, or slightly to the side of Earth’s orbit, for the most part it seems as if Earth and the asteroid are following in each other’s tracks. 2010 TK7 does travel a little farther away from the sun than Earth does at times, as well.

So, why have astronomers not noticed it until now? It seems that 2010 TK7 is usually difficult to spot because from our vantage point on Earth, it would always appear to be close to the sun. For obvious reasons, this makes it very difficult to observe. The NEOWISE project changed the game though. NEOWISE is an aspect of the WISE (Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer) mission, a telescope in space far removed from Earth’s atmosphere and the glare of our daylight. The “NEO” part of the name is a side-mission of the probe that searches for Near Earth Objects, bodies that pass within 28 million miles of the sun. By observing 2010 TK7 from outside of our atmosphere, astronomers were able to get a pin point on it and then track it down much easier using other observatories here on Earth, namely the Canada-France-Hawaii telescope on mount Mauna Kea in Hawaii.

Is Earth in danger from its stony stalker? No. According to NASA, trojans are fairly common in our solar system. Neptune, Mars, Jupiter, and even two of Saturn’s moons all have trojans. 2010 TK7 also seems to have a stable orbit, as well, so it is not likely to interfere with Earth.

“It’s as though Earth is playing follow the leader,” said Amy Mainzer, the principal NEOWISE investigator.

Let us hope there are no sore losers in space.

Credit: NASA.

Save the planet: task force recommends the creation of a planetary defense coordination office to combat asteroids, 11.03.10

A recent report was submitted to the NASA Advisory Council by the Ad-Hoc Task Force on Planetary Defense that called on Congress to allocate additional funds above and beyond NASA’s annual budget for planetary defense. The threat? Asteroids.

An artist's rendition of an asteroid crashing into Earth. Image credit: SPACE.com.

The report recommends that NASA and the US government take steps toward establishing a Planetary Defense Coordination Office that would cooperate with other national governments for the deflection and/or destruction of asteroids that are on course to collide with Earth. In light of all of the natural disasters that seem to be plaguing Earth as of recent years, former astronaut Russell Schweickart says that “Happily, in the instance of asteroid impacts, this is a natural disaster which can be prevented.”


The task force made five recommendations to the Council that they should “Organize for Effective Action on Planetary Defense,” “Acquire Essential Search, Track, and Warning Capabilities,” “Investigate the Nature of the Impact Threat,” “Prepare to Respond to Impact Threats,” and “Lead U.S. Planetary Defense Efforts in National and International Forums.”


The projected start up cost of the project is $250-$300 million every year for the next decade. Annual operation costs after that are expected to be a comparatively minor $50-$75 million.


The program is intended to detect celestial bodies at least 240 feet wide and deflect them away from Earth, if their projected path places them on a collision course. The task force said the “driving philosophy” behind the program is to “find them early.” While the recommendations did say that the new Planetary Defense Coordination Office would be capable of detecting threats at least a decade before they are supposed to make contact with Earth, NASA and the U.S. government are not obligated to act on their recommendations.


Credit: SPACE.com