NASA says defunct satellite appears to have fallen over the Pacific Ocean

September 24, 2011 – Miami — Pieces of a defunct satellite that plummeted to Earth have settled, NASA said Saturday morning. The space agency said the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite “is down,” according to the space agency’s Twitter page. NASA said debris fell to Earth between 11:23 p.m. ET Friday and 1:09 a.m. ET Saturday, but it was not immediately clear where the pieces may have landed. NASA said the satellite pierced through the atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean, but the exact time and location were not known. About two dozen pieces of the satellite were expected to survive the crash through the Earth’s atmosphere. Late Friday night, NASA predicted satellite parts would pass “over Canada and Africa, as well as vast areas of the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans.” FAA: Pilots watch for falling satellite “The risk to public safety is very remote,” NASA said. The 26 pieces expected to survive the descent — made of stainless steel, titanium and beryllium that won’t burn — ranged from about 10 pounds to hundreds of pounds, according to NASA. “The U.S. is very safe from (the satellite) … its final orbit did not cross the United States,” the space agency tweeted early Saturday. But reports of suspected sightings emerged from San Antonio, Texas, where a TV photographer caught images of bright objects darting rapidly in the night sky, and from Hawaii, where Robert Jeffcoat saw what he believed were two chunks from the satellite. Jeffcoat was running errands when the first flying object left a thick, white trail that lingered in the sky for about 20 minutes, he said. A second object followed the same path and was “massive,” he said. “It’s was like a comet, but smoke,” he said. “I’m guessing it landed in the ocean, the way it was going.” Mark Matney of NASA’s Orbital Debris team in Houston said before space rubbish fell that there was no way to know exactly where the pieces would come down. –CNN