RE-ENTRY ALERT

Hi all,

Looks like the Russian probe Phobos-Grunt is going to have a fiery death!

From Space Weather:

Russia's malfunctioning Mars probe, Phobos-Grunt, is sinking back into Earth's atmosphere. Taking into account the current space weather forecast and the area-to-mass ratio of the spacecraft, Ted Molczan estimates the time of re-entry: Jan 16 @ 07:00 UTC +/- 1.3 days. The window of uncertainty is still too large to pinpoint exactly where the fireball will occur.

It seems for tonight. Above us hopefully it must happen around:
19h48m h=08 South
21h17m h=32 South
22h48m h=32 South

Sky News' take on it:

An out of control Russian spacecraft could crash land on southern England sometime this weekend, scientists have warned.

The minibus-sized Phobos Grunt is loaded with 11 tons of fuel that was supposed to take it to Mars and one of its moons.

But the on-board computer failed shortly after take-off in November and the spacecraft's orbit of the Earth has been getting lower ever since.

Chief engineer at the UK Space Agency Professor Richard Crowther said it is expected to explode as it enters the atmosphere, scattering debris along a 200km track - anywhere between the M4 corridor and the Falkland Islands.

Seanie.

Touchdown! Russia’s elusive Mars probe crashes into Pacific

Russia’s Phobos-Grunt, whose mission to a Martian moon went astray before circling the Earth, has finally dropped into the Pacific Ocean, reports RIA Novosti news agency citing sources in Russia's Defense Ministry.

The stray probe plunged into the cold waters of the Pacific Ocean at 17:45 GMT (21:45 Moscow time), says the press service of Russia’s Aerospace Defense Forces in the Defense Ministry.
“Phobos-Grunt’s fragments were to fall into the waters of the Pacific Oceans at 21:45 Moscow time. This is according to the calculations made in the Space Control Centre,” said Aleksey Zolotukhin, of the space division of Russia’s Defense Ministry.

The probe hit the water 1250 km (776 miles) to the west of the Chile’s island of Wellington, in an area commonly used to dispose of “Progress” spaceships once they have completed their missions.

' rt.com/news/mars-land-probe-russian-841/ '

dammit, it must have been quiet a sight !

Another one coming to a fiery end. The GOCE satellite is due to burn up in the next few days.

www.aerospace.org/cords/reentry-predicti...reentries/2009-013a/