German Satellite ROSAT To Come Down By Friday

Like the NASA’s UARS which after completion of its tenure in space ended up in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, German satellite ROSAT is also all set to come back. But there is one slight hitch in this. Scientists are unable to communicate with ROSAT and hence the exact location of its fall is yet not confirmed.

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Almost of the size of a mini van ROSAT weighs almost 2.9 ton. With its reentry in the earth’s atmosphere it is expected that most of its part will burn up but still as many as 30 will standout the air friction and will hit the ground. As already stated there is no specific confirmation of the destination of hit but still a rough estimate of about 53 degree N and 53 to the S is considered to be under the drop in zone.

ROSAT was launched way back in 1990 to study the black holes and neuron stars. Orbiting the earth in 90 min ROSAT performed the first all sky survey fore X- ray sources using and imaging telescope.  ROSAT will enter the earth’s atmosphere at a ravaging speed of 17400 mph. Telescopes heat reflecting mirror will be the largest single fragment coming toward earth.

German space agency assures that there is no need to fear this. The chance of collision in a populated area is very less. The odds of somebody somewhere on earth being hurt are 1 in 2000 while any individual being struck is 1 in 14 trillion. As it nears the Earth in coming days, scientists will be able to more accurately estimate exactly when it will land to a window of about 10 hours.

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