A fiery satellite will plummet back to Earth this evening

An aging satellite made partly by UK scientists will plunge back to Earth tonight. The European satellite Salsa is due to reenter our atmosphere at 7.48pm UK time, where it will burn up, leaving a fiery trail and giving rare clues about how we can reduce space debris in future. Some pieces of it may reach the surface, but luckily they are unlikely to hit anyone because they will be coming down over the ocean in the South Pacific. This isn’t a lucky coincidence: the return is the first-ever ‘targeted’ re-entry for a satellite, the European Space Agency (ESA) said. More

(Source: MSN - Sep 9)