Nasa satellite the size of bus could land almost anywhere

NASA spokespeople have stressed that the risk to human life

UARS was launched in 1991 to measure the ozone laye

The biggest piece of space debris to fall from orbit was America’s

Nasa satellite the size of bus could land almost anywhere

It is the biggest NASA spacecraft to “come back” in three decades, after Skylab fell in western Australia but Mr Matney said similar-sized pieces of spent rocket and satellite debris fall to Earth about once per year.

NASA spokespeople have stressed that the risk to human life and property from UARS is small.

UARS was launched in 1991 to measure the ozone layer, wind and temperature. It was officially decommissioned in 2005.Mark Matney, an orbital debris scientist at NASA, said: “We know it is going to hit somewhere between 57 north latitude and 57 south latitude, which covers most of the inhabited world unfortunately.”

The biggest piece of space debris to fall from orbit was America’s 75-ton Skylab which hit Earth in 1979.

US Strategic Command’s Joint Space Operations Center is “keeping everyone – not just NASA but all the federal agencies that deal with public safety issues – informed about where it is and predictions of where it’s coming,” a spokeswoman said.nasa satellite crash, nasa satellite images, nasa satellite live, nasa sky, nasa dish network, nasa map, nasa website, nasa space station, nasa digital.