Freighter to end life in fireball
September 29, 2008
Freighter to end life in fireball
Europe’s biggest, most sophisticated spaceship is about to bring its six-month mission to an end by plunging into the Pacific in a ball of flames.
The “Jules Verne” freighter undocked from the space station three weeks ago packed with rubbish and will take its unwanted cargo into a destructive dive.
Most of the vehicle is expected to burn up in the atmosphere; only fragments will make it down to the ocean water.
Two engine firings should bring the ship out of the sky on Monday.
Events will be overseen from the European Space Agency’s (Esa) freighter control centre in Toulouse, France.
Mike Steinkopf, the mission director for re-entry, says a “safety zone” has been drawn in the south Pacific some 2,700km long by 200km wide.
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 We will see what appears to be a very bright meteor  Jason Hatton
Esa-Nasa re-entry observing team |
“We issue a notification to the air traffic and maritime authorities to make sure there are no planes or boats going through that zone during our re-entry time,” he told BBC News.
Astronauts on the overflying International Space Station (ISS) and scientists in two chase planes will take pictures as the disintegrating mass of metal streaks through the morning Pacific darkness.
“Visually, we will see what appears to be a very bright meteor,” explained Jason Hatton from the chase team set by Esa and the US space agency (Nasa). “It will start as a point of light with a trail, and then as it comes apart, we will see fragments.”
Source: bbc.co.uk/
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