BBC News - German Rosat spacecraft makes uncontrolled re-entry

The Rosat spacecraft had some robust parts that should have survived all the way to the surface

A big German spacecraft has made an uncontrolled fall from the sky.

The Roentgen Satellite (Rosat) re-entered the Earth's atmosphere between 01:45 and 02:15 GMT.

Just as for Nasa's UARS satellite, which plunged into the atmosphere in September, there was high uncertainty about the final moments of Rosat.

But if the timings are correct, any wreckage would probably have dived into the [...]

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Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk

Full article at bbc.co.uk

I love it: "'Unfortunately, there is a whole legacy of spacecraft - 50 years of satellites - and we are going to have to put up with this situation for quite some time, I'm afraid.'"

Posted via email from Moments of Awareness