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ONLY a month after NASA’s 6-tonne UARS satellite plummeted into the Pacific Ocean, another defunct satellite, the ROSAT X-ray telescope, is set to hit the Earth. At 2.4 tonnes ROSAT is much smaller than UARS, but more of it could survive re-entry, posing a risk to people.
For ROSAT to undertake X-ray imaging of the heavens its cluster of optical mirrors had to be extremely heat resistant – and that means a 1.6-tonne chunk of it is unlikely to burn up.
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The satellite will crash-land some time between 21 and 24 October. As 91av went to press, increased solar activity in the upper atmosphere was slowing ROSAT at a rate that should see it come out of orbit at around 2030 GMT on 22 October.
Those worried about being squashed by a chunk of satellite – the odds of it landing on anyone are 3000 to 1 – have been able to track it using an iPhone app, called ROSAT, allowing them to take evasive action if needed.