Second big satellite set to resist re-entry burn-up
Even if NASA's 6-tonne UARS satellite does not cause any injury or damage when it re-enters the Earth's atmosphere today, there is more space junk headed our way next month. A defunct German space telescope called ROSAT is set to hit the planet at the end of October - and it even is more likely than UARS to cause injury or damage in populated areas. Read more
The ROSAT satellite that was launched on the 1st June, 1990, from Cape Canaveral, Florida, is predicted to re-enter the Earths atmosphere on the 19th October, 2011 @ --:-- GMT ± -- hours.
Parts of Rosat, a massive, out-of-control German satellite, could smash into the earth sometime between October and December this year. Officials in Germany, however, say that humans likely are not in danger. Read more
ROSAT (short for Röntgensatellit) is a no-longer operational German X-ray satellite telescope (in German X-rays are called Röntgenstrahlen, in honour of Wilhelm Röntgen). It was launched on June 1, 1990, with a Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral for a 5 year initial mission, and operated for over 8 years until February 12, 1999. Read more