[meteorite-list] Falling Satellite ROSAT Hurtling Toward Earth

From: Kelly Beatty <jkellybeatty_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu, 20 Oct 2011 08:58:37 -0400
Message-ID: <D627E437A2694F899E8E12C7DDE858EF_at_NightSkyGuy>

Jim and list...

the everyday media have overlooked an important aspect of the Rosat-reentry
story, namely, that the entire telescope assembly (1.6 metric tons of carbon
fiber and Zerodur ceramic glass) is predicted to land intact. think "Mini
Cooper" falling from the sky" and you get the general idea. it took a lot of
digging and coaxing with German and ESA officials, but they've confirmed this
reality to me, as related here:
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/news/132109883.html

of course, it remains the case that the chance of it striking a populated area
is very, very, very small.


clear skies,
Kelly

****************
J. Kelly Beatty
Senior Contributing Editor
SKY & TELESCOPE
617-416-9991
SkyandTelescope.com
Received on Thu 20 Oct 2011 08:58:37 AM PDT