Another Satellite falling to Earth soon

Just posting as an FYI because I know some of you like to track these things.

Portions of Russia’s defunct Kosmos-1220 satellite will come crashing back to the planet on Sunday following a fiery, uncontrolled descent through the Earth’s atmosphere, Russian officials said.

Fragments of the former reconnaissance satellite are expected to survive the high-speed re-entry and will most likely plunge harmlessly into the Pacific Ocean, Colonel Alexei Zolotukhin told Russian news agency Ria Novosti.

Expected to hit earth within the next few hours. (02h37 UTC) So, if you're bored and snowbound like me, here's the link to track it.

www.satview.org...

It was launched in 1980.

The exact size and weight of the Kosmos-1220 satellite is unknown, Ria Novosti reported, adding to the uncertainty of the upcoming event.

“Much of it will burn up in Earth’s atmosphere, but no doubt fragments of Kosmos-1220 will reach Earth,” David Eicher, editor of Astronomy magazine, told FoxNews.com in an e-mail.

Not sure why they don't know the size. I'll try to find more info but wanted to post this before it falls!

www.foxnews.com...

Here's some more info -

Cosmos 1220 was a Soviet naval reconnaisance satellite launched from the Baikonur cosmodrome... This naval forces monitoring spacecraft was used to determine the position of enemy naval forces through detection and triangulation of their electrmagnetic emissions (radio, radar, etc).

Mass: 4150.0 kg

nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov...

reply to post by Maluhia


Pacific Ocean you say; cool
i'm on the east coast of Australia, might be possible to watch its reentry

It should come down in an hour and a half from now. So while we wait, can someone explain the cute little doghouse over Michigan on the map?

reply to post by M3RCSENTINAL


That would be awesome! Someone caught pics of the one that fell last November. Have your camera ready.

The final moments of the Goce satellite were caught on camera as it blazed across the sky above the South Atlantic.

www.bbc.co.uk...

reply to post by aboutface


That's your location. I live in a doghouse in NY.....great graphics...lol!

Well got my sky camera out and looking
But just in case it put up a good display I will also be out with my Z10 smartphone
It going right over my head any minute now will report back

If it falls in my yard can I keep it?

reply to post by Maluhia


It is passing over my area right now. I went outside to see if I could spot it, but it is to overcast. This will be the only time it passes my area. Thanks for the heads-up!

the high-speed re-entry and will most likely plunge harmlessly into the Pacific Ocean

reply to post by Maluhia


I wonder if something like that would be announced by media if there were a chance debris targeting a city.

In that case I'll see a shield deployed...., over the responsibles.

So being mostly uninformed when it comes to this type of thing, I have to ask: Just how great are they when it comes to accuracy in their predictions?

reply to post by aboutface


They usually say "it will most likely fall over water" and since the earth is mostly water, they're usually right! But, they also admit it's never certain due to a lot of factors.

Here's another tracking sight.

www.n2yo.com...

reply to post by Maluhia


Interesting. One site has it over Copenhagen while the other has it near Turkey. Time to put on clean underwear, just in case.

Here a better one to follow

Cosmos 1220

Ok camera did not see anything and it snowing with a clear sky very rare.

Going back out to re-position my sky cam to look more west for next past.

Well that is a pretty good explanation if something does hit, coincidence of the date much???
Russian Meteor

Just a justification of the cause in case something big happens?

One year later, the impact of the surprise Russian meteor explosion is still being felt all over the world.

On Feb. 15, 2013, a 65-foot-wide (20 meters) asteroid detonated in the skies over the Russian city of Chelyabinsk, causing millions of dollars of damage and injuring 1,500 people. The dramatic event served as a wake-up call, many scientists say, alerting the world to the dangers posed by the millions of space rocks that reside in Earth's neck of the cosmic woods.

There must be some very appealing instrumentation on board, so I'm wondering what are the chances the Russians would shoot it down rather than have it retrieved, presuming retrieval would be possible?

reply to post by Trillium


That's a good site - thanks for that. They have a comments section, but it's not active....

Here also check ongoing facebook info

Cocmos 1220

Maluhia
reply to post by Trillium

 

That's a good site - thanks for that. They have a comments section, but it's not active....

You need to
Request activation to [email protected]

reply to post by Trillium

You need to Request activation to [email protected]

Oh ok, thanks. Also thanks for the Facebook link.

I think this is midnight PST for me. Would pass over to the south of me I think.

Local Configuration

Lat: 49.133 Lon: -122.303 Alt: 500
Timezone: UTC-8