ESA
English
Français
Deutsch
Below is a graphic showing the projected ground track of Jules Verne's last few orbits. The one furthest to the left will be the final orbit - you can see it ends to the right of New Zealand when the spacecraft burns up in the Earth's atmosphere. The re-entry will be difficult to view from anywhere on the ground as this area is pretty much uninhabited... the lucky few who are going to be on the two planes taking part in the observation campaign are probably the only people who are going to witness tomorrow's events live. We'll be in touch with them via the ATV team here at the ATV Control Centre in Toulouse and bring you the latest news as soon as we hear anything. --Maria (oh.. and see the observation campaign website for a closer look at the flight path)
Reentry
28 September, 2008 18:55
4 comments | "Jules Verne's last few orbits"
28-09-2008 • 22:54:18
The map shows fragments very close to New Zealand, including some near Invercargill where your tracking station is located!) - are you sure there is no risk to this country? If fragmentation is such that pieces land here it could cause some panic even if they do no damage!
Presumably the authorities have been notified, hoping no fishing boats are in the area. I guess the re-entry itself will be too far away for us to see anything, provided we are not peppered with fragments, but in any case the weather is likely to be awful.
I guess if all goes according to plan NZ will be too far away to hear the sonic boom?
29-09-2008 • 00:57:08
Tried to make comments here before and they don't seem to have come through. Sorry if you have received them and I am repeating myself.
Are you sure there is no danger to New Zealand as the map appears to show fragments arriving here, including some close to your own tracking station!
29-09-2008 • 11:51:10
Actually, most of the various maps/diagrammes published show a greatly exaggerated scale for the impact area (which is itself quite a bit larger than the projected impact trajectory) and these can be quite confusing. The projected nominal impact zone lies some 2500 from New Zealand. Specifically: The sea level impact area is predicted for the South Pacific Ocean, ~40°S, 145°W, some 2500 km E of New Zealand, 6000 km W of Chile, 2500 km S of French Polynesia. The chance of any bits of ATV hitting anything at all are exceedingly small. -- Daniel
29-09-2008 • 04:18:22
BBC page has a clearer graphic of projected impact site.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7639548.stm