Friday, September 23, 2011

Spring Ahead, Fall Back to Earth

Today is the autumnal equinox, the first day of fall. Thanks to the increased solar activity of Solar Cycle 24, the UARS satellite will re-enter this afternoon. As it re-enters it will break up into a large number of pieces, some of which may make it to the ground.

The predicted ground tracks for today have been calculated by the Aerospace Corporation and can be seen at http://reentrynews.aero.org/1991063b.html. The orange circle is the splashdown point.

Welcome home UARS!