Portugal must escape the path of the 2.5 ton satellite that will fall in the next few hours
This time we are safe. Portugal and the Minho region have had their share of space scrap scares in recent years, most recently when parts of the Chinese Long March rocket led to the closure of airports in Spain, including Vigo, despite having crashed in an area remote from the Pacific Ocean.
Between tonight and Monday morning, a satellite measuring radiation and sunlight will re-enter Earth’s atmosphere at the end of nearly 40 years of space research for NASA. The fall will be uncontrolled but the US space station has already assured that the 2.5 tons that make up the equipment must be disintegrated upon re-entry, although it admits that some parts made of more resistant or denser material will be able to resist.
Anyway, even if those pieces land on something or someone, we’re safe. The Aerospace Corporation, the only non-governmental association dedicated to space engineering fully financed by the United States Government, has already revealed the satellite’s possible routes during the 24-hour cycle in which it certainly followed the fall, and none passes through Portugal, not even for almost all over Europe.
According to the same source, consulted this Sunday by O MINHO, the last forecast for the time of re-entry points to 03:49 this Monday, with a margin of error of more or less 13 hours, which leaves the forecast quite uncertain. By that time, and according to the same source’s forecast, the satellite will re-enter over Chinese territory, in Manchuria, but the wreckage would end up falling in Southeast Asia, quite possibly in the ocean.
Does it fall on our heads? It’s more likely than winning the EuroMillions
NASA guarantees that it will not cause any harm. As the possibility of hitting someone is 1 in 9,400, according to NASA, it is a risk to take. Let’s say that the probability of falling on our heads is infinitely greater than that of winning the EuroMillions (if you only place one bet). However, there are many people who win it, and still no one has taken a satellite directly to the head.
Americans criticized Chinese
In November 2022, after part of a Chinese rocket fell out of control, the director of the United States Center for Aerospace Debris Studies, during a ‘briefing’, regretted that there was no treaty that would force China to stop falls. out-of-control space junk.