European Satellite to Make an Uncontrolled Re-Entry to Earth, Unclear Where

A European satellite that mapped Earth's gravitational field in detail is about to succumb to Earth's gravity and is expected to make an uncontrolled entry. Nobody is sure when and where the satellite will crash.

Scientists at the International Space Debris Coordination Committee are continuously monitoring the European satellite. Gravity Field and State-state Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) has crossed its expiry date and is expected to fall sometime in the next few days.

According to the prediction of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) scientists at Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre who have been continuously tracking the GOCE, the 2000- pound satellite is expected to fall on Friday, November 8, 2013, reports Times of India.

On the other hand, The New York Times report that the satellite is expected to hit Earth between Sunday and Monday. This fiery entry will split the satellite into fragments, with the largest fragment weighing as much as 200 pounds. It also states that it is the latest in a parade of spacecraft falling from the sky. They refer the satellite's entry as uncontrolled entry.

The satellite is on a pole-to-pole orbit, which means that all places on earth are directly beneath it at some point.

What is even more baffling is that the scientists can't predict where the satellites debris will land. The chance of the satellite debris causing damage to the Earthlings is very low.

"It's rather hard to predict where the spacecraft will re-enter and impact," said Rune Floberghagen, the mission manager for the European Space Agency's Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Explorer, or GOCE. "Concretely our best engineering prediction is now for a re-entry on Sunday, with a possibility for it slipping into early Monday."

GOCE that was launched in 2009 ran out of xenon propellant last month and since then, has been falling towards the Earth covering a distance of 2.5 miles a day. Latest calculation made on Wednesday claims that the satellite was 113 miles above Earth. But the ESA controller claim that the solar activity may speed up the fiery uncontrolled fall of the satellite from the orbit.

For four and a half years the satellite measured the global gravity of Earth and flew just 224 km above the planet. The aerodynamically-shaped satellite falling towards Earth generated a massive online buzz and triggered a worldwide fear.

Dr. Rune Floberghagen, the mission manager for ESA's GOCE said, "The debris will put about 15 to 20 square yards of the Earth's surface in danger. If you compare that to the surface of the planet, it's a very small number."