A six-tonnes NASA science satellite pierced the atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean and fell back to Earth, the US space agency said on Saturday, but it was not yet known where the remains landed.
NASA said its decommissioned Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite, which took an unpredictable course as it tumbled through the upper atmosphere, fell to Earth sometime between 11:23 p.m EDT on Friday and 1:09 a.m. EDT on Saturday (0323 to 0509 GMT on Saturday). “The precise re-entry time and location are not yet known with certainty,” NASA said of the 20-year-old satellite.
There were reports on Twitter of debris falling over Okotoks, a town south of Calgary in western Canada, most likely satellite remains. Stretching 35 feet (10.6 metres) long and 15 feet (4.5 metres) in diameter, UARS was among the largest spacecraft to plummet uncontrollably through the atmosphere, although it is a slim cousin to NASA’s 75-tonnes Skylab station, which crashed to Earth in 1979.
Russia’s last space station, the 135-tonnes Mir, crashed into the Pacific Ocean in 2001, but it was a guided descent.
