An unusual October storm dumped wet heavy snow across much of the Northeast US over the weekend, as much as 32 inches (81 centimeters) in some areas. Nicknamed “Snowtober,” the storm left as many as 3 million people without power at the snowstorm’s peak, and was blamed for the deaths of at least 10 people. In this images from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite, a swath of snow sweeps from West Virginia northeastward to Maine, as seen on Oct. 30, 2011. Clouds hover east and west of the snow, blocking the satellite sensor’s view of western Pennsylvania and parts of the Atlantic Ocean.
The storm broke snowfall-total records in many cities, with strong winds and heavy tree damage as the heavy snow easily clung to trees which still had their leaves, snapping branches and power lines.
The National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System Preparatory Project, or NPP, launched successfully on a Delta 2 rocket early today at at 5:48 a.m. EDT 09:48 GMT (or precisely at 2:48:01.828 a.m. PDT, according to NASA’s Twitter feed). The next generation satellite will measure both global climate changes and key weather variables, as well as test new technologies for future Earth observing satellites.
The spacecraft has also successfully separated and is now in orbit. The separation video is below.
A new satellite that will test key technologies and instruments for the next generation of climate and weather-monitoring satellites is scheduled to launch on Friday, Oct. 28, 2011. The NPOESS Preparatory Project (NPP) mission has a planned liftoff from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California at 5:48 a.m. EDT/2:48 a.m. PDT.
The German Aerospace Center (DLR) has identified the ROSAT’s satellite final resting place as the Bay of Bengal, off South Asia. The minivan-sized satellite re-entered the atmosphere at 0150 GMT on Sunday, October 23, 2011 (9:50 p.m. EDT on Oct. 22) and any pieces of the 21-year old satellite that survived the fiery trip likely crashed into the water. However, the ROSAT_Re-entry Twitter feed reports there is still some ambiguity, and re-entry likely took place sometime between 01:50 and 01:51, with error bar of plus or minus 7 minutes. That could make a huge difference in where debris landed. (Updated with new map, below.)
No sightings of any debris have been reported. Most of ROSAT’s parts were expected to burn up in the atmosphere, but up to 30 fragments weighing a total of 1.87 tons (1.7 metric tons) may have crashed.
Map posted by ROSAT_Reentry Twitter feed, which indicated locations on re-entry path, +/- 7 mins. Still ambiguity between 01:50 and 01:51 locations
The Bay of Bengal is located between India and Myanmar.
Yesterday, some estimations put the satellite as possibly re-entering over Northern Thailand, but again, no debris was reported. DLR now says the more precise determination of the time and location of re-entry was based on the evaluation of data provided by international partners, including the USA’s Space Command.
“With the re-entry of ROSAT, one of the most successful German scientific space missions has been brought to its ultimate conclusion. The dedication of all those involved at DLR and our national and international partners was exemplary; they are all deserving of my sincere thank you,” said Johann-Dietrich Wörner, Chairman of the Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR) Executive Board.
It’s official: the ROSAT satellite has come down. The Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), the German Space Agency confirmed the satellite plunged to Earth sometime between 1:45 UTC and 2:15 UTC on Oct. 23, 2011 (between 8:45 and 9:15 EDT Oct. 22) There is currently no confirmation if pieces of debris have reached Earth’s surface.
Update: US Strategic Command estimates an entry time of 1:50 UTC +/- 7 Minutes. This entry time would put the satellite in the Indian Ocean, and not over China as reported below. The DLR said that after further analysis they should be able to provide more information about exactly where the debris hit.
The @ROSAT_Reentry Twitter feed posted the picture above, indicating the satellite’s fall occurred sometime during the groundtrack shown.
Other reports via Twitter from skywatchers around the world had no sightings of any lit debris falling, or any actual sightings of the satellite passing overhead since 23:30 UTC on Oct. 22. Some news reports say it could have re-entered over China, but it likely didn’t make it as far as Korea or Japan.
We’ll provide more information when it becomes available.
This latest video rendering from from Analytical Graphics, Inc. (AGI) shows ROSAT’s current orbit, the satellite’s ground track, and the estimated model of the break-up and debris scattering. Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), the German Space Agency has now refined the re-entry to sometime between October 22 and 23, 2011, plus or minus one day. DLR says this slot of uncertainty will be reduced as the date of re-entry approaches. However, even one day before re-entry, the estimate will only be accurate to within plus/minus five hours.
The orbit extends from 53 degrees northern and southern latitude, and all areas in that region could be affected by its re-entry. The bulk of the debris will impact near the ground track of the satellite, but larger parts of the satellite, including its 32 inch, 400 kg mirror, could fall to Earth in a 80-kilometer-wide path along the track.
Update: A report from the ROSAT_Renetry Twitter feed posted at 18:00 UT on October 20 said they expect re-entry in 64 hours. “ROSAT orbit 88.58 minutes 196.8 x 201.7 km, Position 26.6S,164.0W alt=203.2km Lit ~Re-entry 64 hours”
We’ll provide more updates as they become available. You can check the DLR ROSAT webpage for more updates.
Every couple of weeks or so a strange flash appears on an all-sky camera that searches for meteors. What could it be? Take a look at the video above and maybe you can help solve the mystery.
“They are not iridium flares because they are stationary,” said James Beauchamp, an amateur astronomer who hosts the meteor camera for Sandia National Labs and New Mexico State University, and who posted this video on You Tube. “And they are not geosynchronous satellites because the azimuth/elevation are too far North. They are reflective because they always happen just prior to or after sunrise/sunset. Whatever it is, it’s slow and BIG.” Continue reading “All-Sky Camera Captures Mysterious Flashes”
The European Union and European Space Agency (ESA) will launch the first components next week of the €20 billion Galileo global navigation satellite system. This constellation of satellites will allow users to pinpoint their location anywhere on Earth. It will be a free, fully autonomous and interoperable worldwide satellite navigation system, broadcasting global navigation signals for high-performance services, which ESA says possesses the service integrity guarantees that GPS lacks for commercial and safety-critical services.
The first launch is scheduled for October 20, 2011. This 3-D video provides an overview of the system. Use red/blue 3D glasses to watch in 3D.
Here we go again: A satellite without a propulsion system is set to crash to Earth later this month, and officials can’t predict exactly when or where it will fall. This is not the second coming of NASA’s UARS (Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite) but a German X-Ray observatory named ROSAT (ROentgen SATellite), which will likely plummet through Earth’s atmosphere sometime between October 20 and 25, plus or minus 3 days.
Due to fluctuations in solar activity, “the time and location of re-entry cannot be predicted precisely,” the German Aerospace Center (DLR) said in a statement on their website.
Coming in at about 28,000 kilometers (17,000 miles) per hour, DLR said the satellite will break up into fragments, with possibly up to 30 individual pieces weighing a total of 1.7 tons reaching the surface of the Earth. The largest single fragment will probably be the telescope’s mirror, which is very heat resistant and weighs about 1.7 tons.
German officials said there is a 1-in-2,000 chance that debris from the satellite could hit a person on Earth, and added the chance any a German citizen would be hit about 1 in 700,000. They did not include the odds of any one specific person on Earth getting hit by debris, but for the UARS satellite, it was estimated at about 1 in 21 trillion.
Like the UARS satellite, ROSAT’s orbital track takes it over much of Earth’s oceans.
An artist's impression of ROSAT in orbit. Credit: DLR
ROSAT is about the size of a car, and during its mission was in an elliptical orbit at distances of between 585 and 565 kilometers above the surface of the Earth. It was decommissioned in 1999, and since that time, atmospheric drag has caused the satellite to lose altitude. In June 2011, it was at a distance of only about 327 kilometers above the ground.
Since ROSAT does not have a propulsion system on board, it is not possible to maneuver the satellite to perform a controlled re-entry. ROSAT’s orbit extends to 53 degrees north and south latitudes, and all areas in that region could be affected by its re-entry. The bulk of the debris will impact near the ground track of the satellite. However, isolated fragments could fall to Earth in an 80-kilometer wide path along the track.
DLR will provide updates to predict the moment of re-entry as accurately as possible. During the re-entry phase of the satellite, German scientists will be evaluating data from the US Space Surveillance Network (SSN). In addition, the Tracking and Imaging Radar (TIRA), the large radar facility at the Fraunhofer Institute for High-Frequency Physics and Radar Techniques in Wachtberg near Bonn will be monitoring the descent of the X-ray satellite to further improve calculations of its trajectory.
Last month, the bus-sized 6-ton UARS satellite that hurtled uncontrolled toward Earth and plunged into the Pacific Ocean without causing any problems.
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NASA has confirmed that it’s decommissioned Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite fell back to Earth on Sept. 24 between 03:23 GMT and 05:05 GMT (11:23 p.m. EDT Friday, Sept. 23 and 1:09 a.m. EDT Sept. 24.) The Joint Space Operations Center at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California said the satellite entered the atmosphere over the North Pacific Ocean, off the west coast of the United States. The precise re-entry time and location of any debris impacts are still being determined. NASA is not aware of any reports of injury or property damage.
NASA will provide more information during a media telecon at 18:00 GMT (2 p.m. ET) to discuss the re-entry.
Artist concept of the UARS Satellite in orbit. Credit: NASA
