Satellite the size of a bus will crash land into earth, no control as of yet on where

  • Thread starter Delirious
  • 25 comments
  • 1,718 views
Delirious?
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/tech/2008/01/28/obrien.falling.satellite.cnn?iref=videosearch

The guy says you getting struck by a falling "bus" (size of satellite before debris and breaking up) are one and a trillion

But still pretty interesting and a little funny

Imagine someone super unlucky though a flying mass of debris the size of say a foot in diameter, hitting them and killing them causing a little crater :P
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Thats a little morbid wouldn't you say Delirious?? Hopefully most of it will fall into the ocean, or hit one of the CoS.
 
I really can't see it hitting anything, I imagine it'll be blown to smitherines by the spy agencies. As I'd imagine there is sensitive information and technology on it.
 
Loon
Hopefully most of it will fall into the ocean, or hit one of the CoS.
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Lets hope Xenu can help us!

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Seriously, most of this will burn up in the atmosphere, and if the reports that there still is a lot of fuel on board, it will probably explode on its way down...
 
I wouldn't expect to see much of it hitting the Earth as a solid chunk of aluminum. It'll surely mostly burn up in the atmosphere, and if there is still fuel in it, I'm sure NASA will direct it to land in an ocean somewhere. It would be interesting to have it land in front of me while walking between classes though.
 
Am I the only one aware that over 17,000 satellites have fallen since we started putting them up? I'm sure I'm not, but this speculation is getting out of hand.

The major difference here is that usually they are controlled. Still the odds are so slim of it hitting land, and then a person, that it isn't much to worry about.

Then of course there is the issue of the fuel that comes into play because it is toxic.


Now, let's look at the last man-made object crashing through Earth's atmosphere. Not Skylab, Columbia.

The shuttle is much bigger than a bus. There were very few large pieces that hit and it mostly disintegrated. This satellite will likely fall apart into smaller pieces than Columbia and hurt just as many people-none. As for the fuel? What do you think it will do in reentry?

Basically, non-story, but we can't talk about elections 24-7 on CNN.
 
Hope it's not like a real bus. Wait ages for one, and then 4 come along at once, with the first one driven by a 17 year old...
 
Wonder if there's a toilet on board...


But anyway, the best scenario is a missile strike... at night. That would be soooo awesome. I'd be like argghh we're gonna die, and then phwooommmm, bang, kapooowww. And we'd be safe.
 
Solid Lifters
First SkyLab and now this...
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Think Taco Bell is going to lay out another target and promise free tacos for all?




superberkut
The F-15 is proved to be able to intercept satellites at operational altitudes, I think.
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Maybe it can get close enough for its weapons to intercept them, but certainly not the actual jet. And remember that satellites orbit at vastly different altitudes. Hell, there's probably a few flying not too far above the SR-71's ~100,000 foot ceiling.
 
philly cheese
It'll surely mostly burn up in the atmosphere, and if there is still fuel in it, I'm sure NASA will direct it to land in an ocean somewhere.
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I'm sure NASA would if NASA were operating the spacecraft.

FoolKiller
Am I the only one aware that over 17,000 satellites have fallen since we started putting them up?
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Nope. You're not.

superberkut
The F-15 is proved to be able to intercept satellites at operational altitudes, I think.
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I hope you mean F-15 operational altitudes and... well... that would be really impressive. It would have to intercept a relatively small object hurtling toward the ground. I've never heard of any aircraft with the capability to intercept something like this. The only thing even remotely like it that I've heard of is catching sample-return capsules with helicopters - but then you're catching something with a parachute.
 
Geo-sync sates are way out there.

Of course, if its bus sized... it could be this!

magic-bus2.jpg


In all honest, like several have said, this is basically a non-story.
 
daan
Hope it's not like a real bus. Wait ages for one, and then 4 come along at once, with the first one driven by a 17 year old...
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:lol:

Orion wouldn't waste a perfectly good Bus by disintegrating it on reentry..

Non-issue, really. But the US Government apparently owes a Shire in Western Australia $400 for littering from when Skylab fell.
 
Danoff
I hope you mean F-15 operational altitudes and... well... that would be really impressive. It would have to intercept a relatively small object hurtling toward the ground. I've never heard of any aircraft with the capability to intercept something like this. The only thing even remotely like it that I've heard of is catching sample-return capsules with helicopters - but then you're catching something with a parachute.
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It's not really the 'plane. Its more to do with the missile (although the F15's radar does direct the missile.)

wiki
Satellite killer

From January 1984 to September 1986, an F-15A was used as a launch platform for five ASM-135 anti-satellite (ASAT) missiles. The F-15A went into a Mach 1.22, 3.8 g climb of 65° and released the ASAT missile at an altitude of 38,100 feet (11.6 km). The F-15A computer was updated to control the zoom-climb and missile release. The third test flight involved a retired communications satellite in a 345 statute mile (555 km) orbit, which was successfully destroyed by sheer kinetic energy. The pilot, USAF Major Wilbert D. "Doug" Pearson, became the only pilot to destroy a satellite.[31][32]

The ASAT missile was designed to be a standoff anti-satellite weapon, with the F-15A acting as a first stage. The Soviet Union could interpret a U.S. rocket launch with a spy satellite loss, but an F-15 carrying an ASAT would blend in among hundreds of F-15 flights.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F-15_Eagle#Satellite_killer
 
Hehe, the ASM-135 ASAT program ended up being canceled due to the fall of the Soviet Union and the fact that destroying a orbiting satellite will make a LOT of space debris. Now the only missiles capable of reaching such altitudes are anti-ballistic missile interceptors, but they are meant to hit incoming missiles, which is a bit different than hitting a satellite...
 
Sureshot
I really can't see it hitting anything, I imagine it'll be blown to smitherines by the spy agencies. As I'd imagine there is sensitive information and technology on it.
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. . .'Cos. . . satellites STORE information AND governments want to waste more money on what is basically a satellite to take out another satellite, because they think it will survive the re-entry. Uh huh. And keep the technology secret.
 
Azuremen
Geo-sync sates are way out there.
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But it isn't geo-synch. It actually moves around the poles. Watch the CNN video posted.

SolidSnake15
$20 says it lands in my back yard. (not really)
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We should all put up $20 and then whoever it lands closest to wins the pot.

Or, since some people don't want to give their home location, we all pick a spot we think it will land, like coordinate grids or something.

Although I am not sure that would be legal.
 

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