NASA Satellite due to crash back to Earth, A defunct NASA satellite the size of a bus that is expected to fall to Earth today but has been predicted to miss North America. The agency's 13,000-pound Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite, or UARS, has been slowly tumbling from orbit since its mission ended in 2005. It is expected to break up as it re-enters the Earth's atmosphere.

Most of the debris will incinerate as it plows through the air, but about 26 pieces, weighing a total of about 1,100 pounds, are expected to survive the fall and land somewhere on Earth.

With 75 per cent of the planet covered by water and vast regions of desert and other uninhabited regions, NASA said the odds that a person will be hit by a piece debris from UARS are about 1 in 3,200.

The satellite flies over most of the world as it orbits between 57 degrees north and 57 degrees south of the equator. Its altitude on Thursday was about 115 miles above the planet.

Nasa said on its website on Thursday that re-entry was expected sometime Friday afternoon.

"The satellite will not be passing over North America during that time period. It is still too early to predict the time and location of re-entry with any more certainty, but predictions will become more refined in the next 24 to 36 hours."

The 35-foot-long, 15-foot diameter satellite was launched into orbit aboard a space shuttle in 1991 to study ozone and other chemicals in the planet's atmosphere.

Websites offering real-time tracking of UARS include Heavens-Above.com and Space-Track.org. Nasa satellite due to crash back to Earth, News, Latest World News, Nasa News, Latest Nasa Satellite crash, Nasa satellite crash on earth, Nasa latest News, Latest USA News, Latest UK News, Latest Canada News, Nasa Satellite strike on friday, Nasa Satellite crash, UARS, Nasa North America, NASA, NASA UARS.

Source: telegraph