Satellites that fall from the sky

NASA expected the UARS to re-enter Earth's atmosphere in late September or early October but did not have a clear idea of where the satellite would fall until two hours before it entered the Earth’s atmosphere. Considerable media attention was generated, but the satellite eventually fell safely and no casualties were reported. REUTERS/NASA/Handout

On January 21, 2001, a Delta 2 third stage, known as a PAM-D (Payload Assist Module - Delta), reentered the atmosphere over the Arab Gulf. The titanium motor casing of the PAM-D, weighing about 70 kg, landed in Saudi Arabia about 240 km from the capital Riyadh.

NASA

This 4-feet inch diameter sphere found in Lake Nacogdoches, Texas belonged to space shuttle Columbia. Low water levels at the lake during the drought have led to recovery of a container-like object presumably from the ill-fated space shuttle, which broke apart and burned in February 2003, scattering remnants over East Texas.

(AP Photo/Nacogdoches Police Department)

The main propellant tank of the second stage of a Delta 2 launch vehicle, which landed near Georgetown, Texas in 1997, weighs 250 kg tank is primarily a stainless steel structure and survived reentry relatively intact.

NASA

Satellites are not the only space debris to return home. This 30 kg titanium pressurant tank survived the reentry of the Delta 2 second stage on 22 January 1997 also, but was found farther downrange near Seguin, Texas.

NASA

In this video-grab image, an object is seen falling from Space Shuttle Columbia during liftoff on January 16, 2003. The area from which the object fell is highlighted in the red circle near the shuttle's main engines. 

(Photo by NASA-TV/Getty Images

A picture showing the actual disintegration of space shuttle Columbia upon reentry into the atmosphere

Launched in 1973, Skylab was the world’s first successful space station. The cylinder-shaped station was 118 feet tall, weighed 77 tons, and carried an assortment of scientific equipment. In 1979, after breaking up in the atmosphere, Skylab crashed down in Australia and into the Indian Ocean.

ROSAT, the German X-ray satellite, has been inactive since 1999. The German news magazine Spiegel reported that a large portion, about two-thirds, of the 2.4-ton satellite would probably not burn up in the atmosphere but strike the earth. Scientists are optimistic that every precaution will be taken to minimize risk to life and property (AP Photo / NASA handout)

The Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite, shown in this conceptual image, was launched in 1991 by space shuttle Discovery. The 35-foot-long, 15-foot-diameter UARS was decommissioned on December 14, 2005. The nearly 12,500-pound (5,668-kilogram) satellite crashed into earth September 24 and landed in a remote area of the Pacific. NASA