Oh joy. Phobos-Grunt, that failed Mars moon soil probe launched in November, is set to re-enter the atmosphere sometime between January 6 and 9 – packed with tonnes of explosive hydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide chemical fuel. Oh, and total battery failure has it charted to fall between latitudes 51.4 degrees north and 51.4 degrees south – an area spanning all of Australia (but also Africa, Japan and parts of North America and Western Europe).
Spaceinfo.com.au editor, Jonathan Nally, told news.com.au that the probe is likely to hit water given it covers 70 per cent of the earth. He also says the probe’s lack of heat shields means it should burn up as it enters the atmosphere.
We’ll soon find out! [news.com.au and RT]
Grim
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 12:26 PMBetween 51 N and 51 S? So that’s only like most of the habitable planet.
Luke
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 1:58 PMIs it me or would they be more accurate if they just threw a dart at a map of the world and said it was going to crash there.
DarthDVD
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 6:17 PMhmmm burn up and explode.