Satellite still on for Friday freefall from space By MARCIA DUNN AP Aerospace Writer
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) -- A dead 6-ton satellite is getting closer and closer, and is expected to smack down on Earth on Friday.
NASA's old research satellite is expected to come crashing down through the atmosphere Friday afternoon, Eastern Time. The spacecraft will not be passing over North America then, the space agency said in a statement Wednesday evening.
The predictions should become more precise by Thursday afternoon and certainly by Friday.
"It is still too early to predict the time and location of re-entry with any more certainty," NASA said.
"In the beginning of a change, the Patriot is a scarce man, brave, hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, however, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a Patriot."
Huge Tumbling Satellite Could Fall to Earth Over US Tonight or Saturday, NASA Says by Tariq Malik, SPACE.com Managing Editor Date: 23 September 2011 Time: 10:55 AM ET
This story was updated at 11:36 a.m. ET
A huge, dead satellite tumbling to Earth is falling slower than expected, and may now plummet down somewhere over the United States tonight or early Saturday, despite forecasts that it would miss North America entirely, NASA officials now say.
The 6 1/2-ton Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) was expected to fall to Earth sometime this afternoon (Sept. 23), but changes in the school bus-size satellite's motion may push it to early Saturday, according to NASA's latest observations of the spacecraft.
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