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NASA's HETE Coming Down

Posted by michael on from the falling-down-on-new-jersey dept.

terrymr writes "NASA expects the High Energy Transient Experiment spacecraft which failed to successfully detach from the third stage of its launch rocket in 1996 to fall to earth within the next few days. While most of the spacecraft will likely burn up in the upper atmosphere there is a good chance that the spacecraft's batteries (weighing 33lbs each) may reach the ground intact. Current predictions put re-entry at 4:41 EDT Sunday April 7 (+/- two days)."

1 of 96 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Why not bring it down? by leeward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    If they still have control of the satellite, then that is exactly what they do. Remember MIR last year? They deliberately steered it so that it would fall in a large mostly sparsely inhabited area of the southern Pacific.

    If you mean would they shoot it down, then the answer is that it is unlikely. We really don't have missiles that can reliably hit orbiting objects yet.