"Like UARS and ROSAT last year, Phobos-Grunt is making an uncontrolled re-entry, and it’s not entirely clear where it will fall. Odds are it’ll be over water, since the majority of Earth’s surface is ocean. The predictions I’m seeing look like it’ll be on or around January 15th. The actual location of re-entry won’t be known pretty much until the moment it comes down; it’s moving at several kilometers every second, so being off by a few minutes in the time means being off by thousands of kilometers in the location! "
On January 15, ms Amsterdam will be on its way to Recife, Brazil, plowing the waves of the equatorial South Atlantic. So if it turns out that Phobos-Grunt lands nearby, I'll try to get a good photo of its re-entry. And if I do, I'll be able to sell it for enough to pay for the trip! (I have no idea if that's true or not, but it seemed such an appetizing prospect that I decided to affirm it anyway.)
And the "-Grunt" part of its name is a word for ground, though it's more German- than Russian-sounding, if you ask me.
There may be a falling satellite belongin to Russia, but you've already faced down the Russians and won.
ReplyDeleteThe satellite will not want to tangle with any ship you're on.