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Just days after NASA's Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite plunged into the Pacific Ocean, another satellite -- this one German -- is beginning its descent to Earth. And once again, nobody knows where it will land.
The crash isn't imminent -- the German space agency is predicting it will reenter the Earth's atmosphere in late October or early November...
The Rontgensatellit, or ROSAT, weighs about two and a half tons. That's somewhat lighter than UARS, but more pieces are expected to survive re-entry into the atmosphere. Thirty pieces, possibly including shards of glass from the satellite's mirrors, are expected to hit Earth...
ROSAT was launched in 1990 and died in 1998. Because it has no fuel left, there is no way to control its path. The situation was the same with UARS.