Tin hats at the ready: Six-ton satellite will plummet back to Earth… and there's a one in 3,200 chance it could hit someone
- It ran out of fuel in 2005 and Nasa has no idea where it will crash land
Last updated at 3:04 PM on 9th September 2011
It weighs six tons, it’s spinning out of control and it’s going to plunge back to Earth some time this month.
Nasa estimates that there’s a 1 in 3,200 chance that pieces of the defunct satellite could hit someone when it plunges from orbit. It would be the first time in history someone was injured by space debris.
The Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite, or UARS, ran out of fuel in 2005 and could land on any of six continents. NASA says it could land at any point between 57 degrees north and 57 degrees south - which includes almost all the populated areas of our planet (see map below).
Most of the satellite will burn up during re-entry, but a hefty half-tonne of metal will still plummet to the Earth’s surface.
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