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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/space/8780657/Nasa-satellite-the-size-of-bus-could-land-almost-anywhere.html
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Nasa and the US Department of Defense are tracking the 35ft spacecraft, the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite, or (UARS), as it heads towards the planet at five miles per second.
Experts say there is a one-in-3,200 risk of the space junk, which weighs six tons, hitting someone.
However, its speed means that there will only be a 20-minute warning before it strikes.
Debris is expected to scatter across a 500-mile area, with the biggest chunk weighing 300lb, the weight of a large refrigerator.
The anticipated landing area spans cities as far north as Edinburgh and as far south as Cape Horn, on the southern coast of South America.
A quick Q&A
This is quite interesting to know that they have no idea until it pretty much starts re-entry where it's going to potentially hit.
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Tře
7842 posts
 - Brisbane, Australia
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It's pretty crazy. I mean if it's about to hit somewhere they don't have a great alert system. Some people could really get fucked by this
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Ooh cool, I hope it lands outside my house so I can run out, lie under it and scream. There's a claim right there.
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This is fairly badass news, although I'm a bit grieved by some of the coverage of it. Some quarters are claiming that you've got a 1 in 3000 chance of being hit by it, which isn't actually that unlikely. It's also not strictly true. That's only the odds of it hitting a person. The odds of it hitting a particular person are spectacular.
Still. I can't have been the only person that read the news, crossed their fingers, and hoped for David Cameron.
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If I've done my maths correctly, which is unlikely, there's roughly a one in two trillion chance of it hitting a particular person. But that's not taking into account the most likely landing zones etc.
But yeah, one in 3000 isn't that unlikely. In a way I hope it does hit someone or something important. Imagine the headlines: 'BORIS JOHNSON STUCK BY FALLING SATELLITE'. What a day that would be.
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NASA has warned people not to touch the debris if they come across it because it is likely to have sharp edges.
Take the pieces and build them skywards.
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no-name :
. Imagine the headlines: 'BORIS JOHNSON STUCK BY FALLING SATELLITE'. What a day that would be.
That would be terrible. 
^ Don't touch it? Unlikely, I'd be holding them for ransom or better yet just nick it and keep it for myself.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKqXu-5jw60
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I don't know what the actual odds are, but I would suspect that there's an awful lot of zeroes.
In a way, I hope it doesn't just crash into the ocean. I'd like to see the hole it would leave in a field or something.
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no-name :
In a way I hope it does hit someone or something important. Imagine the headlines: 'BORIS JOHNSON STUCK BY FALLING SATELLITE'. What a day that would be.
Pretty much this, although not Boris Johnson.
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Wow, one in 3000 really isn't that unlikely. I wonder what would happen to Nasa if that actually happens.
...And then I said; Oatmeal, are you CRAZY?!
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I know when Skylab crashed in Australia they fined NASA $300 for littering.
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Nasa satellite the size of bus 'could land almost anywhere'
The Moon?
Also, it will land in the sea.
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Bill Nye the Science Guy is the man!
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I'll be on the lookout for bus-sized shadows over my head in the near future then.
Also, Bill Nye IS the man.
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no-name :
Ooh cool, I hope it lands outside my house so I can run out, lie under it and scream. There's a claim right there.
"When something happens you can either say it's fate. Or you could say I absolutely did not deserve that. We're real Lawyers, determined to get you the compensation you deserve"
The thought of Captain Price standing in front of a huge smoking crater with a pair of legs sticking out from underneath saying that makes me giggle.
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- Ash0Man
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So it should crash in some hours then?
...And then I said; Oatmeal, are you CRAZY?!
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They still don't know, but they are saying it has slowed so it could be a bit later.
If it's clear I'm going to try and catch a glimpse of it on one of it's passes.
Also NASA will be fully liable for any damage done.
Under the terms of the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, the US government retains ownership of the debris and could, if it so wished, seek to take possession of any items found on the ground.
With those ownership rights also comes absolute liability if a piece of UARS were to damage property or injure someone.
"There is something called international responsibility; they're internationally liable," explained Joanne Wheeler of law firm CMS Cameron McKenna, and an expert representative for the UK on the UN Subcommittee for the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space.
"The Americans have to retain jurisdiction and control, and that pretty much can be interpreted as ownership. So they own it up there, they own it if it comes down to Earth and they're liable if it crashes into something."
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Here you can see where the satellite is at the moment.
...And then I said; Oatmeal, are you CRAZY?!
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I want it to land near me
Sheffield Arena - 04/11/09
Wembley Stadium - 11/09/10
REAL FAN
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Swedish news site said between 4:30 and 10:30 our time, so one hour earlier for Britain.
...And then I said; Oatmeal, are you CRAZY?!
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Yeah, French news has gone a bit mental with it too. Thing is nobody can say for sure yet anyway.
That said this has just been announced.
Update #11
Sat, 24 Sep 2011 01:30:46 AM UTC+0200
As of 7 p.m. EDT on Sept. 23, 2011, the orbit of UARS was 90 miles by 95 miles (145 km by 150 km). Re-entry is expected between 11 p.m. Friday, Sept. 23, and 3 a.m., Sept. 24, Eastern Daylight Time (3 a.m. to 7 a.m. GMT). During that time period, the satellite will be passing over Canada, Africa and Australia, as well as vast areas of the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans. The risk to public safety is very remote.
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/uars/index.html
The page will be updated more regularly the closer it gets.
Looks like I'll be asleep, hope it doesn't drop on my Mum.
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