UPDATE 3: UARS Risk to Public Safety "Remote": NASA

UPDATE 3: At about 1:55 am NASA tweeted: “We’re still waiting for #UARS Done! confirmation. If debris fell on land (and that’s still a BIG if), Canada is most likely area.” Presumably that means they are confirming it has reentered, but don’t know where (not sure what the “we’re still waiting” phrase means).

UPDATE 2: 1:00 AM EDT Sept 24 — The status of UARS is unclear. NASA did not update its website between 10:30 pm and 12:55 am, and the 12:55 am update still reported orbital elements as of 10:30 pm. NASA tweeted about 12:40 am saying that it was possible that UARS has reentered, but they were awaiting confirmation from Strategic Command and that notation was finally added to the website at 12:55 am. Lots of rumors on Twitter, but no “news.” We will report here when an official announcement has been made.

UPDATE: 11:00 PM EDT Sept. 23 — NASA’s latest update predicts UARS will reenter between 11:45 pm tonight and 12:45 am Saturday morning EDT. The satellite will be passing over Canada, Africa, and vast ocean regions, it says, and the risk to public safety is “very remote.” Get updates on Twitter @SpcPlcyOnline

NASA’s 7:00 pm EDT update says that the risk to public safety from the reentry of its Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) is “remote.”

The agency predicts that it will reenter between 11:00 pm tonight and 3:00 am Saturday morning EDT. The satellite will be passing over Canada, Africa and Australia during that time period, as well as “vast areas of the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans.” The Earth is 70 percent covered by water.