Re-entry

Progress 59: “The spacecraft is 160 miles high and travelling at more than 16,000mph…”

Pete Baker on April 29, 2015, 4:53 pm | Readers 638

…and out of control… The BBC reports on the Russian unmanned cargo ship delivering supplies to the International Space Station that mission control has lost contact with and is now in a uncontrolled spin. Or, as RTÉ says, it’s ‘plunging back to Earth’. Here’s the view from a camera on-board the spacecraft. From the BBC report The Russian news agency Tass reports that Progress M-27M is now orbiting in an uncontrolled spin. Scientists may try again to control it, but it …

Phobos-Grunt: “Re-entry is now imminent”

Pete Baker on January 15, 2012, 4:49 pm | Readers 44

The BBC’s spaceman, Jonathan Amos, reports on the imminent re-entry of the 13-tonne failed Russian Mars probe, Phobos-Grunt. Included in that 13-tonnes are more than 10 tonnes of fuel which is expected to explode when the aluminium storage tanks rupture during re-entry. From the BBC report The Russian space agency says little of the probe will survive to the surface. It calculates no more than 200kg in maybe 20-30 fragments. Precisely where on the Earth’s surface – and when – this …

Mind your heads…

Pete Baker on September 23, 2011, 4:25 pm | Readers 3

I did warn you… Just about everyone’s now covering the falling UARS satellite – that’s the 5 tonne, 20-year-old UARS satellite. Nasa has further refined their estimate of when it will come down. As of 10:30 a.m. EDT on Sept. 23, 2011, the orbit of UARS was 100 miles by 105 miles (160 km by 170 km). Re-entry is expected late Friday, Sept. 23, or early Saturday, Sept. 24, Eastern Daylight Time. Solar activity is no longer the major factor …