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Satellite weighing as much as adult rhino to crash through Earth's atmosphere today (www.cbsnews.com)
submitted 8 months ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/science@lemmy.world
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A satellite will likely make an uncontrolled return through Earth's atmosphere today, according to the latest estimates from the European Space Agency.

It says ERS-2, which weighs about as much as an adult male rhinoceros, is expected to re-enter at about 11:32 a.m. EST — plus or minus 4.6 hours. The agency can't predict exactly when and where the satellite will re-enter because its return is "natural."

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[-] FigMcLargeHuge@sh.itjust.works 21 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

I assume we are talking about an unladen adult rhino... And why didn't they specify the time in some understandable increment, for instance, it will re-enter in the time it would take a normal human to devour 18 triple cheeseburgers from the Burger King in Schenectady NY?

[-] thefartographer@lemm.ee 4 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

I just can't imagine this impact... How many rhinos is the Earth and how many times faster than a cheetah will it be traveling??? Plus, really, how far even is space??? You could at least tell me how many CVS receipts or flea jumps away the satellite is.

this post was submitted on 21 Feb 2024
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