Sunday, September 25, 2011

Where's Mulder? (Or Pacey?)


From WSJ: "NASA said all debris from a decommissioned research satellite appears to have dropped in a remote section of the Pacific Ocean well "away from the western coast of the U.S," but the precise spot may never be pinpointed.

Nick Johnson, chief scientist for orbital debris at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, told reporters the fiery trajectory of the 13,000-pound satellite ended as it crossed eastward over portions of the Indian Ocean and Africa for the final time. It then most likely disintegrated and scattered debris over a roughly 500-mile stretch across the northern portion of the Pacific.

About 11 hours after the splashdown, Mr. Johnson said there weren't any credible reports about debris falling on land or anyone recovering satellite parts—contrary to widespread Internet speculation about purported remnants of the satellite falling to the ground in Canada or elsewhere. But "we may never know" precisely where the debris ended up, he told reporters, as ground-based sensors and other tracking devices provide only approximate locations of where the satellite started breaking up, and debris began falling vertically. NASA also said it hadn't received any reports of debris sightings from aircraft or vessels."


Um, seriously NASA? First you instructed us not to touch the space debris and now you claim it will never be located. Sounds like a cover-up to me....

1 comment:

Charles Grace said...

so nothing fell? i'm confused.