ARLA/CLUSTER: UARS com reentrada prevista para o fim da tarde de amanhã e orbitas pela Europa

[Pedro Ribeiro]

*RE-ENTRY ALERT: *NASA's UARS satellite is making its final orbits 
around Earth, tumbling and flashing brightly as it descends toward a 
Sept. 23rd re-entry. Amateur astronomer Jim Saueressig II caught the 
bus-sized satellite flying over Burlington, Kansas, on Sept. 20th (image 
<http://spaceweather.com/submissions/large_image_popup.php?image_name=Jim-Saueressig-II-2011_0920-062x800_1316638919.jpg>). 
"It was easily visible in spite of the moonlight and the twilight of the 
sunrise. The tumble and associated flares were very apparent," he says.

Satellite tracking expert Ted Molczan has used USSTRATCOM's orbital 
elements of UARS to predict a decay time "late on Sep 23, roughly 
between 18:00 and 22:00 UTC."

<http://www.spaceweather.com/swpod2011/22sep11/UARS_decay_2011_Sep_23_UTC_v1.jpg?PHPSESSID=h9jafq3rge4pj0g0i98i943050>

"There is still potential for the estimated time of decay to shift 
somewhat before it begins to narrow down," cautions Molczan.

The disintegration of UARS is expected to produce a fireball that could 
be visible even in broad daylight. Not all of the spacecraft will burn 
up in the atmosphere, however; according to a NASA risk assessment 
<http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/585584main_UARS_Status.pdf>, as many as 26 
potentially hazardous pieces of debris could be scattered along a ground 
track some 500 miles long. The same report puts the odds of a human 
casualty at 1 in 3200.

For last-chance sightings of this brightly flashing satellite, please 
check the Simple Satellite Tracker 
<http://www.spaceweather.com/flybys?PHPSESSID=h9jafq3rge4pj0g0i98i943050> or 
download the Satellite Flybys app <http://simpleflybys.com> for your 
smartphone.

*more images:* from Theirry Legault 
<http://legault.perso.sfr.fr/uars_110915.html> of Dunkerque, France; 
from Oscar Martín Mesonero 
<http://spaceweather.com/submissions/large_image_popup.php?image_name=Oscar-MartAsn-Mesonero-IMG_8761_pix_rec-texto_1316523253.jpg> 
of Madrid, Spain;

Fonte: http://www.spaceweather.com/

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QRA: Pedro Ribeiro // Callsign: CR7ABP // GRID Locator: IM58mr
QTH: São Francisco, Alcochete, Portugal
Homepage:http://www.qrz.com/db/CR7ABP
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