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      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.


      "According to the data we currently have, we expect it not to
hit over Europe," agency spokesman Andreas Schuetz said. "The
satellite is still orbiting and we are observing the data for other
parts of the world," he added.


      Fluctuations in solar activity and the fact that scientists are
no longer able to communicate with the dead satellite render
predictions of where and when it will come down yet more difficult.


      The 2.69-ton (2.4 metric ton) scientific ROSAT satellite was
launched in 1990 and retired in 1999 after being used for research
on black holes and neutron stars and performing the first all-sky
survey of X-ray sources with an imaging telescope.


      The largest single fragment of ROSAT that could hit into the
earth is the telescope's heat-resistant mirror.


      During its mission, the satellite orbited about 370 miles (600
kilometers) above the Earth's surface, but since its
decommissioning it has lost altitude, circling at a distance of
only 205 miles (330 kilometers) above ground in June for example,
the agency said.


      A dead NASA satellite fell into the southern Pacific Ocean last
month, causing no damage, despite fears it would hit a populated
area and cause damage or kill people.


      Experts believe about two dozen metal pieces from the bus-sized
satellite fell over a 500-mile (800 kilometer) span of uninhabited
portion of the world.


      The NASA climate research satellite entered Earth's atmosphere
generally above American Samoa. But falling debris as it broke
apart did not start hitting the water for another 300 miles (480
kilometers) to the northeast, southwest of Christmas Island.


      Earlier, scientists had said it was possible some pieces could
have reached northwestern Canada.


      The German space agency puts the odds of somebody somewhere on
Earth being hurt by its satellite at 1-in-2,000 - a slightly higher
level of risk than was calculated for the NASA satellite. But any
one individual's odds of being struck are 1-in-14 trillion, given
there are 7 billion people on the planet.

Gallery

Science

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.

German satellite expected to hit Earth Sunday

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