Another dead satellite crashing to Earth
A defunct NASA satellite that fell to Earth last week sparked some worldwide buzz, but it's not the only spacecraft falling out of space.
The decommissioned German X-ray space observatory, called the Roentgen Satellite or ROSAT, will tumble to Earth sometime in early November, but it's still too early to pinpoint exactly when and where debris from the satellite will land, according to officials at the German Aerospace Center.
The 2.4-ton spacecraft's orbit extends from the latitudes of 53 degrees north and south, which means the satellite could fall anywhere over a huge swath of the planet — stretching from Canada to South America, German Aerospace officials said.
The latest estimates suggest that up to 30 large pieces of the satellite could survive the intense and scorching journey through Earth's atmosphere. In all, about 1.6 tons of the satellite components could reach the surface of the Earth, according to German Aerospace officials.
The re-entry will be similar to NASA's 6-ton Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS), which plunged into the southern Pacific Ocean on Saturday (Sept. 24).
ROSAT coming home
In 1998, ROSAT's star tracker failed, which caused its onboard camera to be pointed directly at the sun. The event permanently damaged the spacecraft and ROSAT was officially decommissioned in February 1999. - The Restless Universe: Understanding X-Ray Astronomy in the Age of Chandra and Newton
Scientists are actively tracking the dead satellite, but many of the details will remain uncertain until roughly two hours before it hits Earth.
"It is not possible to accurately predict ROSAT's re-entry," Heiner Klinkrad, head of the Space Debris Office at the European Space Agency, said in a webcast posted on the German Aerospace Center's website. "The uncertainty will decrease as the moment of re-entry approaches. It will not be possible to make any kind of reliable forecast about where the satellite will actually come down until about one or two hours before the fact."
It will, however, be possible to rule out certain geographical regions from the potential drop zone about a day in advance, Klinkrad said. The largest piece of debris is expected to be the telescope's heat resistant mirror.
"Generally speaking, whenever a satellite re-enters the atmosphere, about 20 to 40 percent of its mass actually reaches the Earth’s surface," Klinkrad said. "In the case of ROSAT, this figure could be slightly higher because one of its characteristic features is that it carries heat-resistant mirror structures on board." [Related: Falling Satellites & Space Junk: Q&A with Orbital Debris Expert]
Small risk to public
Fragments from ROSAT could fall back to Earth over a 50-mile (80-kilometer) wide path, but despite the uncontrolled nature of ROSAT's re-entry, the odds of personal injury or property damage are extremely remote, German Aerospace officials said.
When NASA's UARS satellite fell to Earth, for example, NASA said the chances of parts of the spacecraft striking any one of the nearly seven billion people on the planet were about 1 in 3,200. The actual personal risk of being hit for an individual person, however, was about 1 in several trillion, NASA officials said.
To date, there have been no reported serious injuries or casualties from falling space debris, NASA scientists have said. - space
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Squatchmaster calls it quits...may start ghost hunting
Click for video
Statement from the Squatchmaster: I wish to thank all my loyal friends on You Tube that have supported our research for the past year and a half. For the most part it has been a very rewarding experience. But, it is time to hang up the hiking boots and to quit picking briers out of my legs. Our final day on this research was culminated with one of our videos being picked to be tested by professionals. It was by far the best time I've ever had doing this. These folks do this full time and have mountains of good hard evidence to support their belief in Bigfoot. To all my true friends out there...we love you all and thank you for your support. Take care, be well and have fun. Goodbye.
NOTE: this is the guy who said he observed a Bigfoot pulling down a tree - click here for the video - in Salt Forks State Park, Ohio. Here is the link to his website - SasquatchEvidence. Lon
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Man auctioning his severed finger...attempts to save haunted railroad museum
Since 1976, John Baker has run the Bakers Junction Railroad Museum in Smithville, Indiana. The museum — which operates a haunted house in old railcars — has fallen on tough financial times, so Baker's turned to an unusual source of fundraising capital. That is, his own severed finger.
Here's John's story: "YO! It is a real finger key chain. I no it's real it's off my right hand. I cut it off working on Bakers Junction Railroad Museum. It can be seen at The Haunted Train fund raiser for Bakers Junction Railroad Museum. I am a 100% disabled Veteran, I cut my finger off with a skill saw when I was cutting over my head standing on one leg, because I only have one leg.
"I was cutting in a bad place and had to hold the saw in my left hand and the saw jammed up and jumped out and cut my finger off as I fell down. They could not sew it back on so I put it in my pocket. I mummified it and put it in plastic. The money goes to paying for the new medal roofs on the 2 century old train station at Bakers Junction Railroad Museum."
According to John, his money troubles stem from a conflict with the "Commie zoning board" of Bloomington, Indiana.
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Several UFO landing sites around Ojai, CA
(Unedited despite the awful spelling): iv seam to be connected to them for some time now.every time i scope the mountians out i see 4 to5 ships on the ground 1 to7 days after that there are gone but then i see new ones in different plases. 5 days ago i saw one that blinded me for about 1 hour with a gold light.the nex day it was gone. i realy dont understand it all 2 days ago i talk to the police about them one said to call them when i have one so i called the police becuse i found one they told me to call a ufo network so that is what i am doing. i found that there is a place in the foot hill in ojai that there area number of them that they are there when i get close to a ship on the ground there are several reasons i cant get close enought to touch then,one is my feet are glue to the ground ten feet away, another is they fill my mind with terrer as if i am going to be eating by something other than they earth a garding that is pertecting them. i under stand that if i get beon there gard and get close enough to tough one of there ships that maybe i might be able to connect to them a may be one with them and to under stand why i am so atracted to them. all i can do right now is to keep a eye on them and wate for the opertunaty for them to have me for there guest but untill then i going to have that barrier.one day they will come for me i will disapeir people will look for me for a wile then they will give up and forget me.i use to worry about it but now i am ready for them to take me i know now that i am ready to give up my life if that is what it takes to be able to be with them to travel to space but i hope that i wantto be in my body alive and well but now i am ready for what ever they want of me. thanks for lissening to me for what i have to say i dont know any more i was told not to mess with them buti cant stand it any more to see them and no one belives me. as of today every time i see one i well do everthing i can to tough them even if it kills me i dont care any more i wont be afraid of them any more i have nothing to live for anymore - MUFON CMS