German satellite expected to hit Earth Sunday
BERLIN (AP) - A defunct satellite is hurtling toward the atmosphere and pieces of it are expected crash to the Earth on Sunday, according to the German Aerospace Center.
Pieces of the ROSAT scientific research satellite are expected to hit sometime Sunday morning European time, or between about 0000 and 0500 GMT (8 p.m. EDT Saturday or 1 a.m. EDT Sunday), the agency said late Saturday.
Most parts of the minivan-sized satellite will burn up during re-entry into the atmosphere but up to 30 fragments weighing 1.87 tons (1.7 metric tons) could crash into Earth at speeds up to 280 mph (450 kph).
The satellite orbits every 90 minutes and it could hit almost anywhere along its path - a vast swath between 53-degrees north and 53-degrees south that comprises much of the planet outside the poles, including parts of North America, Europe, Africa and Asia.
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