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Falling satellite slows down, Earth strike delayed FLORIDA: A 6-ton NASA satellite on a collision course with Earth clung to space Friday, apparently flipping position in its ever-lower orbit and stalling its death plunge. The old research spacecraft was targeted to crash through the atmosphere sometime Friday night or early Saturday, putting Canada, Africa and Australia in the potential crosshairs, although most of the satellite should burn up during re-entry. The United States wasnt entirely out of the woods; the possible strike zone skirted Washington state. It just doesnt want to come down, said Jonathan McDowell of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. McDowell said the satellites delayed demise demonstrates how unreliable predictions can be. That said, the best guess is that it will still splash in the ocean, just because theres more ocean out there. Until Friday, increased solar activity was causing the atmosphere to expand and the 35-foot (10-meter), bus-size satellite to free fall more quickly. But late Friday morning, NASA said the sun was no longer the major factor in the rate of descent and that the satellites position, shape or both had changed by the time it slipped down to a 100-mile (160-kilometer) orbit. In the last 24 hours, something has happened to the spacecraft, said NASA orbital debris scientist Mark Matney. Back |
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