A European satellite is hurtling towards the Earth for a crash landing but scientists are still not sure on its exact drop point. The Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Explorer or GOCE was launched in 2009 to map the Earth's ocean patterns and variations in gravity in 3D but ran out of fuel on Oct. 21.
According to CNN, the 2,000 pound satellite will be barreling towards the ground in a 119-mile free fall. Rune Floberghagen, mission manager for GOCE, told the New York Times that he believes the satellite will re-enter the Earth's surface between Sunday night and Monday morning.
Floberghagen and other scientists have not been able to pinpoint an exact landing location but believe that GOCE will be in fragments by the time it lands; the largest fragment is estimated to be around 200 pounds. Floberghagen also said he believes the satellite will most likely land in the ocean or other unpopulated areas.
"It's rather hard to predict where the spacecraft will re-enter and impact," Floberghagen told the NY Times. "Concretely our best engineering prediction is now for a re-entry on Sunday, with a possibility for it slipping into early Monday."
According to the European Space Agency's website, as of yesterday (Oct. 8) the exact whereabouts the fragments will fall was still unknown. Besides mapping variations in gravity, GOCE "became the first seismometer in orbit" when it detected sound waves in March 2011 from the earthquake that struck Japan.
To improve the accuracy of information being gathered, in August GOCE was lowered to about 139 miles, lower than other research satellite, the website said. According to ESA potential spots the satellite will fall will be narrowed down closer to re-entry.
Fox News reports that GOCE's whereabouts can be pinpointed by N2YO.com, a satellite-tracking website. You can check it out here.
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