NASA Tracks Satellite Falling To Earth
ANN ARBOR (WWJ) - NASA scientists are tracking a satellite that's expected to fall to Earth later this week. It's expected to break up in the atmosphere, but scientists can't say exactly where or when it will hit.
Researcher for the University of Michigan's Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic, & Space Science, Wilbert Skinner, says fear not ... you're not likely to be hit by a piece of the six ton satellite.
"Only a very, very small probability of anything bad happening to anybody. It's, you know, it's a big, big planet and the chance of hitting anywhere near anybody is pretty small," said Skinner.
FEMA is preparing for a quick response if the defunct satellite, called Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite or UARS, falls over America. But Skinner said scientists expect it will fall close to or between 57 degrees north and 57 degrees south -- that's somewhere south of South America and almost up to Greenland.
NASA said it's most likely to hit on Thursday, plus or minus a day or so.
