科技英语新闻:Defunct U.S. satellite crash avoidable: Chinese expert

BEIJING, Sept. 23 (Xinhua) -- A defunct U.S. satellite is expected to crash down to Earth Friday, with nobody knowing where or when exactly it will hit. This was avoidable, a Chinese expert said Thursday.

Pang Zhihao, a researcher from the Chinese Research Institute of Space Technology, told Xinhua that the crash could have been avoided had the satellite been put into a higher orbit, or manipulated to drop in the South Pacific when it had abundant fuel. It would pose no threat to Earth if these measures had been taken.

NASA's tumbling, 5,900 kg Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite, or UARS, is the first of such man-made space vehicles that have been launched into outer space according to the agency's Mission to Planet Earth. The mission was launched in the 1990s.

The mission is designed to provide data for better understanding Earth's upper atmosphere and the effects of natural and human interactions on the atmosphere.

The satellite was deactivated in 2005 as it ran out of fuel and was left orbiting Earth like a big piece of space junk.

There are other cases of defunct satellites. The European Space Agency said earlier its observation satellite ERS-2 has run out of fuel and is deorbiting. It would therefore also crash sooner or later.

Pang said all countries which are operating space vehicles should take care of their own spacecrafts so that they won't pose any danger.

The expert also said that the public need not worry too much.

Pang said most spacecrafts will be incinerated upon re-entering Earth's atmosphere, and the debris will mostly likely fall into the ocean or hit an uninhabited area. In addition, a debris tracker is able to give a comparatively accurate prediction where the craft will fall about two hours before it hits Earth, giving residents, if there are any, time to evacuate.

He added that there are several ways to minimize the threat of decommissioned spacecrafts, like putting them into higher orbits and crashing them into designated waters.

Scientific progress would possibly bring about more ways of dealing with tumbling satellites. Scientists have already been trying to build spacecrafts with degradable materials so that they can self-destruct when re-entering Earth's atmosphere.