Have you heard about the defunct satellite that's falling from orbit?
By ctrymuziklvr
@ctrymuziklvr (11057)
United States
January 27, 2008 6:13pm CST
Do they tell us these things to scare us or what? They also say that this isn't the first one and I think we've been lucky that they were able to safely direct the one in 2000 to a remote part of the Pacific Ocean and they "believe" the one in 2002 rained debris over the Persian Gulf. The largest uncontrolled re-entry by a NASA spacecraft was Skylab in 1979 and its debris dropped harmlessly into the Indian Ocean and across a remote section of western Australia! I don't know about anyone else but this does bother me just a little bit since they have no way of knowing where this thing will fall. They say it's the size of a small bus so imagine having that fall on your car or worse yet a person!What are your thoughts about this satellite and the government telling us about it? Does it worry you? Have you read about it and then just forgot about it?
Check it out at this site....
http://news.aol.com/story/_a/defunct-spy-satellite-falling-from-orbit/20080126173609990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001
4 people like this
12 responses
@slickcut (8141)
• United States
28 Jan 08
i have to say it does make you a tad bit scared don't it?..Never knowing when and where it could fall..I am really surprised that they even told us, you know how secretive they are...I sure hope it does not fall anywhere populated, it could kill people.I was telling my husband about it and he said they do this all the time, he claims we are never safe...He said one fell in Canada one time...My husband is a vietnam vet, and he worked in secret service and had to have a secret security code and he said they do things all the time that we never know about...
@ctrymuziklvr (11057)
• United States
28 Jan 08
Yes, I know there is always something going on that we don't know about and I really didn't even know about the others that had fallen so I wondered why this one hit the news! Maybe I was just too busy when the others happened for me to notice.
1 person likes this
@jimbomuso (950)
•
28 Jan 08
Yeah I heard on uk news. It scare's me a little because no-one mentioned what power source it uses and how much is left. has it been knocked out of orbit? if so then by what? It is the size of a small bus and if it hits a populated area then the explosion(assuming it doesn't burn up) will be pretty big. certain satellites carry a small amount of radioactive material used in sensors and detection equipment. also its a spy sattelite which means if it doesn't land on a US controlled region then the race is on to get whatever is onboard! I know it sounds a bit conspiracy theory. but since when do you get the truth from the news!!Has anyone ever seen an old movie called the andromeda strain LOL
@gabs8513 (48686)
• United Kingdom
28 Jan 08
Yes I read about it on Yahoo this morning no doubt they will be able to sort it
I really do not know why they tell People about this
I have asked myself that so many times
We will have to wait and see what happens Sweetie but I would not worry about it yet
@lisado (1227)
• United States
28 Jan 08
This story caught my attention, as well. I love how they say they aren't sure when or where it will fall and that it might contain readioactive materials. Lovely. They won't respond about if it could be shot down before it gets to close. They want to "control" the landing because of the "secrets" it has on it. Gimme a break! And for them to just casually mention that this isn't the first time that this has happened ticks me off. Like we need more stuff falling on our heads from the sky? Sheesh. :( I hope that they're able to pin down a location and time a little closer to the point of impact. This kind of stuff is scary!
1 person likes this
@sarahruthbeth22 (43143)
• United States
28 Jan 08
One word Splat.If I had a real enemy I would hope it would hit his house. But since I don't hate anyone that badly at this moment, I hope it is smaller than they think and it hits the ocean.
1 person likes this
@brightcolor (220)
• China
28 Jan 08
Nothing to worry about. Most of them are burnt in the atmosphere before hitting the ground.
and considering the chance you yourself get hit... you'll win lotto 100 times before a bus hits your head...
1 person likes this
@vanities (11395)
• Davao, Philippines
29 Jan 08
yeah it is so scary especially on the part where in you will not know when it will happen i mean the time when it will fall...its one of the disadvantages on being on the stage of high technology..some errors or miscalculations...nobody is perfect i guess...but we cant avoid the govt. are still pursuing to study the impossible and achieved and bear the consequences as well..
@speakeasy (4171)
• United States
28 Jan 08
Actually, I am not worrying about it for a very simple reason. There is absolutely NOTHING that I can do about it AND the chances that it will actually hit a person; let alone a person I know is astronomical.
Personally, I think they should get the Chinese to blow it up for us. China proved several months ago that they have the capability to destroy a satelite in space. If we can't destroy it ourself before it gets into the atmosphere; we should just give them the coordinates and have them use it for "target practice".
1 person likes this
@crazynurse (7482)
• United States
29 Jan 08
I suppose they feel the need to tell us about it rather than have to explain why they didn't tell us about it once it hits. I'm not going to sit and ruminate about it, as there seems to be no control over its landing. I did hear a statistic that one's chances of being hit by a piece of something from space was 1 in 1 trillion while being hit by lightning carries a 1 in a million risk (I think those numbers are correct). I suppose I'll just live each day to the fullest and hope I'm not in the wrong place at the wrong time!
@roshnichaudhary (1160)
• United States
28 Jan 08
No,
I have not heard about it. I am surprised how did I miss the news. It's really scary.
@lucgeta (924)
• France
28 Jan 08
There is a lot of stuff over there and some might eventually fall. They should burn during reentry and be reduced to small fragments, still dangerous for sure but a lot less damaging than a bus. Falling over someone is unlikely as they would be so bright and hot that anyone near would be proper warned. We do count with the fact that most of our planet is water and populated areas are indeed sparse.
@Adoniah (7513)
• United States
28 Jan 08
Yours is not the first Post on this topic. There are a couple floating around just as there are more satellites that will be following this one down in the future.
At least this is not as big as some of the others. It is even smaller than the shuttle. Hopwfully much of it will burn up on reentry.
The Space Center should be working on ways to push these satellites out of our atmoshere instead of letting them fall back to earth. Either that or dismantle them as much as possible while they are still in space and reuse what they can and they there would be less to fall.
The Chinese successfully destroyed one of theirs in space. I wonder why that would not work for us. I know that we have treaties that do not allow us to do it ourselves, but they do not. We should get them to do it for us.
Shalom~Adoniah
