Latest UARS Satellite Tracking Update: ‘Space Junk’ Re-enters Earth’s Atmosphere Over the Pacific Ocean

At 3:46AM Eastern time this morning, NASA announced the location of the final re-entry of the UARS satellite into the Earth’s atmosphere.
What the media has dubbed ‘space junk’ is the decommissioned Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS).

According the the NASA statement, the satellite “fell back to Earth between 11:23 p.m. EDT Friday, Sept. 23 and 1:09 a.m. EDT Sept. 24. The Joint Space Operations Center at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California said the satellite penetrated the atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean. The precise re-entry time and location are not yet known with certainty.”

Based on the size of the Pacific Ocean, the likelihood of any injuries or damage on any areas of land are remote. It appears that, in this instance, the populations on Earth have dodged a school bus-sized bullet falling from the sky.

Real time tracking had been available using a computer application at www.n2yo.com, unfortunately, due to the volume of requests, their web server was often overloaded and difficult to access.

For those interested in following the path of other object which orbit the Earth, including the International Space Station (ISS) and other orbiting satellites, NASA has a site just for that purpose. Additionally, the site can be used to predict the best times to actually get outside and see the ISS flying overhead in the dark sky. The web site is located at: http://science.nasa.gov/realtime-tracking/.

Satellite and other space debis monitoring is the responsibility of the Joint Space Operations Center of U.S. Strategic Command at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. The agency is tasked with tracking the hundreds of satellites and debris which currently orbits our planet.