Obama and Warren Buffet vow to find it, scold it for harming the middle class, demand it pay its fair share.
I kid. But only kind of. WaPo:
The sky is not falling. A 12,500-pound NASA satellite the size of a school bus is, however.
It’s the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite, or UARS — YOU-arz — and it’s currently tumbling in orbit and succumbing to Earth’s gravity. It will crash to the surface Friday.
Or maybe Thursday. Or Saturday.
Out-of-control crashing satellites don’t lend themselves to exact estimates even for the precision-minded folks at NASA. The uncertainty about the “when” makes the “where” all the trickier, because a small change in the timing of the reentry translates into thousands of miles of difference in the crash site.
As of the moment, NASA says the 35-foot-long satellite will crash somewhere between 57 degrees north latitude and 57 degrees south latitude — a projected crash zone that covers most of the planet, and particularly the inhabited parts. In this hemisphere, that includes everyone living between northern Newfoundland and the frigid ocean beyond the last point of land in South America.
Polar bears and Antarctic scientists are safe.
It’s the biggest piece of NASA space junk to fall to Earth in more than 30 years. It should create a light show. The satellite will partially burn up during reentry and, by NASA’s calculation, break into about 100 pieces, creating fireballs that should be visible even in daytime.
An estimated 26 of those pieces will survive the re-entry burn and will spray themselves in a linear debris field 500 miles long. The largest chunk should weigh about 300 pounds.
As the Friday-ish crash gets closer, NASA will refine its estimate of timing and location, but the fudge factor will remain high.
See? Just like Obama and the Buffet Rule: lots of fudging, a wide debris field, and in the end, not a bit of it will hit the predicted mark.
The Unknown Satellite: “I know UARS, but what am I?”
…and in the end, not a bit of it will hit the predicted mark.
In that case, I can confidently predict that the debris will not land anywhere near the Senate. Far away, in fact. As far as can be imagined.
What was kinda neat about the explanation of the earlier than expected deorbit is the sudden(!) bloom of solar activity, which is said to heat the upper atmosphere, causing it to expand like a balloon under growing pressure, and in turn to interact with the satellite, so cause it to slow and fall the sooner. Weather! Not climate.
Speaking of which, yesterday’s APOD was way cool (or hot, depending on how . . . )
I have been trying to relive the glory hours of yesterweek denouncing myself to #attackwatch with a new hash tag #realbuffettrule
#realbuffettrule 1)raise taxes 2) borrow more $ 3)give $ to union/corp cronies 4)??? 5) Recovery! #buffettrule
#realbuffettrule – I decide how to spend my wealth; all of you should give yours to Obama. Assuage my guilt! #buffettrule
I just hope Taco Bell puts another floating target in some ocean; only this time, I want the free tacos.
If it lands in my yard I hope it takes out the damn sweetgum tree that always drops it’s damn seed pods on my deck.
That’s deck with an E.
I’m hoping it lands in my yard. Well, the back pasture anyway.
I wonder what top bidder will give me for a nice hunk of satellite?
Incidently, I’m pretty sure VDH reads PW:
If it’s the size of a school bus, maybe Obama can throw some more people underneath it before it crashes.
in other space junk news
Link
I’ve heard that if you trim the bushes back away from your deck, it makes your deck look bigger.
Another size of a school bus satellite in the news today.
I’ve heard that if you trim the bushes back away from your deck, it makes your deck look bigger.
Have you tried that? I’m asking for a friend.
Some decks are going to look small no matter what you do.
I’ve heard the size of your deck isn’t important, it’s the utility that counts.
Hmmm. Sounds like decks that small would generally be called stoops, or maybe landings, hence hardly deserving the name. S’umpin only leading to an interior vestibule, without actually getting there.
I got nuthin’.
Hehs though.
people sometimes have problems with their deck erections
and also deck stains
I’m gonna deck you.
Deck the halls in balls of, well, just balls…
It requires four 4″ steel pipes anchored in 3′ of concrete (minimum) just to keep my deck properly elevated and ready-to-use.
Seems excessive, frankly, but hey… it meets code.
You guys are awesome.