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Space Station Trash Is Plunging To Earth

msnbc.msn.com — Tank of toxic ammonia coolant thrown from station more than a year ago

Who dugg this? Made popular Nov 1, 2008

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81 Comments

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  • fpaudon, on 11/01/2008, -2/+49"Exactly where the tank will inevitably fall is currently unknown"

    Thanks a lot, NASA. I'm going to have trouble sleeping tonight
  • doiveo, on 11/01/2008, -0/+36DUCK!
  • austinhamon, on 11/01/2008, -0/+34Will it still be hazardous as toxic material after reentry if anything is left?
  • twiztidsinz, on 11/01/2008, -0/+19I know where the tank will fall......



    .....down.
  • rakstar, on 11/01/2008, -1/+16GOOSE!
  • enlightenme, on 11/01/2008, -1/+15That would be hilarious if it landed on the guy that tossed it out.
  • inactive, on 11/01/2008, -1/+14I demand a $700 Billion bailout for NASA
  • RadInfinitum, on 11/01/2008, -1/+13According to my calculations, there is a 3.28x10^-15 % chance that it lands on any one of you... *re-adjusts glasses*
  • Berkana, on 11/01/2008, -1/+11The ammonia could potentially leak out as it descends so that the tank is destroyed, but the ammonia forms a trailing toxic cloud. It all depends on how the re-entry happens; if the tank holds together, and eventually explodes from liquid pressure inside, the contents could just burn up in one go. There are too many factors to make a guess simply based on re-entry.
  • iatethecake, on 11/01/2008, -5/+15Andromeda strain?
  • Andrewbot, on 11/01/2008, -0/+8Great book, people who are burying you probably haven't heard of it/read it, one of Michael Crichton's early greats.
  • inactive, on 11/01/2008, -1/+9Billions of people fart everyday.
  • PaperJesus, on 11/01/2008, -0/+8Let's send a ball of garbage at it.
  • digitalarcanum, on 11/01/2008, -0/+6never tell me the odds.
  • palehorse864, on 11/01/2008, -0/+5Heh. I love statements with double meanings

    "This has got a very low likelihood that anybody will be impacted by it,"
  • youannoyme, on 11/01/2008, -0/+5Wouldn't do you any good. Without strapping a rocket on it, you wont be able to get it out of the earths gravity well
  • adml_shake, on 11/01/2008, -3/+8Please land on my exgirlfriends house....Please land on my exgirlfriends house....Please land on my exgirlfriends house....Please land on my exgirlfriends house....
  • iJump, on 11/01/2008, -1/+5DUCK!
  • TheHayze, on 11/01/2008, -0/+4Dug for the Adromeda Strain reference. A GREAT book, and 60s sci-fi flick.
  • Rockkybox, on 11/01/2008, -0/+4What was the best you were hoping for with that comment?
  • d0ugfunny, on 11/01/2008, -0/+3this is the perfect time for everyone to PANIC!!!
  • inactive, on 11/01/2008, -0/+3No. The costs would be huge.
    We should be using garbage as an energy source
  • inactive, on 11/01/2008, -0/+3Great book and film. It's the only G rated film I know of that contains nudity.
  • twiztidsinz, on 11/01/2008, -2/+5All buried because I like graveyards.
  • inactive, on 11/01/2008, -0/+3Well I think they recycle pee into drinking water.
  • twiztidsinz, on 11/01/2008, -0/+3I would guess that both TheHayze and waxenpi are both correct in their own way.

    It's highly unlikely that NASA doesn't have a clue where this is going. I bet they have narrowed it down to a few locations. However, since you should always hope for the best and prepare for the worst, they probably are going to factor in that some parts or debris from it will fall outside of the projected landing zone.
    Given the uncertainty of where and when it could fail, withholding the location would be pertinent in that if it fails very early debris would end up in a totally different location than if it failed later on which could also be totally different than its final landing site.

    That's if it doesn't completely burn up on entry.
  • Junior612, on 11/01/2008, -0/+3less good: it's like good, but less!
  • GumGuts, on 11/01/2008, -2/+5Everyone just chill out

    Get it?
  • Suprfire, on 11/02/2008, -0/+22 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30...
  • MrSarcasm, on 11/01/2008, -1/+3"But a splashdown at sea is also possible, as the planet is two-thirds ocean."

    I love it how they write obvious ***** just to take up some space on the page.
  • DirtPile, on 11/02/2008, -0/+2It'll burn up on re-entry. That's what she said.
  • rainbowjinjo, on 11/01/2008, -2/+4These comments suck...
  • LordStryker, on 11/01/2008, -2/+4addicted68098 buried for irrelevant comment fail...

    rowbot buried for not knowing Godfather reference...
  • KaJuN4, on 11/01/2008, -0/+2I sea what you did there!
  • GarrettGrimsley, on 11/02/2008, -0/+2Don't watch the show, it blew compared to the book, but this is true of any book turned show/movie. The old movie of it was much better
  • inactive, on 11/02/2008, -0/+2Well... Inward.
  • thosewithnoeyes, on 11/01/2008, -0/+2Shouldn't we be experimenting with ways to recycle everything in the space station? That way, independent missions into space would have enough material to deal with problems that would randomly arise. Only thinking about the future.
  • TheHayze, on 11/01/2008, -2/+4Oh please. Knowing NASA, they have a trejectory reading on the object. Furthermore a series of highly educated guesses on where it's going to fall, when, and at what speed. Math is pretty cool, huh?
  • scotchegg78, on 11/02/2008, -0/+1Based on this site... http://satelliteforum.darkbb.com/reentries-f10/ear ...

    And if I have used it right on google...

    http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&q=44.2%C2%B0%2 ...

    It will fall in Romania, so its ok to go outside again
  • SeaICIubber, on 11/02/2008, -0/+1I'm waiting for the flurry of UFO sightings to appear on Diggg
  • AmazingSteve, on 11/02/2008, -0/+1MOAR ROCKETS!!!
  • blobrana, on 11/01/2008, -1/+2More details are at this link...

    http://satelliteforum.darkbb.com/reentries-f10/ear ...

    (updates later on today)
  • slimkevi, on 11/02/2008, -0/+1"NASA astronaut Clayton Anderson, an Expedition 15 flight engineer, tosses a hefty unneeded ammonia tank the size of a refrigerator ovebboard from the space station..."

    It would be funny if it hit him out of spite
  • funkywood, on 11/02/2008, -0/+1This is good. It's the stuff stuck in orbit that's gonna be dangerous when we try to escape a dead planet.
  • KaJuN4, on 11/01/2008, -0/+1Maybe it will land in Sau Paulo and spice up the grand prix a bit.
  • GiggleStick, on 11/02/2008, -0/+1It's a space peanut!
  • ICSU, on 11/02/2008, -0/+1I blame gravity.
  • cyranthus, on 11/01/2008, -0/+1if this lands in my yard, im going to be seriously pissed.
  • longbow486, on 11/02/2008, -0/+1don't forget your towel
  • microview2007, on 11/02/2008, -0/+1"If anybody found a piece of anything on the ground Monday morning, I would hope they wouldn't get too close to it," Suffredini said.

    Ok, not picking up the dog poo again as NASA has requested.
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