Look out below!!!
Imagine an object 35 feet long, 15 feet in diameter and weighing 13,000 pounds. It was launched into orbit in 1991, decommissioned in 2005 and will be falling to Earth in an uncontrolled de-orbit sometime in the next month or so.
NASA's Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite current website
here
NASA's Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite legacy website
here
De-Orbit press release
here
The variability is due to solar flux stirring up the atmosphere -- the more active the sun (flares), the more the atmosphere is stirred up and the denser it is at the orbital height dragging the satellite down.
The actual physical area of inhabited space on this planet is surprisingly small (about 5% overall) so the chance of human injury or damage is small but it exists. Next couple of weeks should be "interesting"
(there is that word again...)
Posted by DaveH at September 10, 2011 1:40 PM