Posted: Tue, Apr 29, 2003, 11:13 AM ET (1513 GMT)
An Italian astronomy satellite is expected to reenter the Earth's atmosphere within the next 24 hours, and had the potential to shower portions of the Earth near the Equator with a modest amount of debris. The BeppoSAX satellite is currently predicted to reenter between 4:35 pm EDT (2035 GMT) Tuesday and 1:17 am EDT (0517 GMT) Wednesday. Given that large reentry window, project officials Tuesday could not provide a precise impact point for the debris that survives reentry. The spacecraft is in an orbit inclined 4.36 degrees to the Equator, limiting the band of possible reentry locations to portions of northern South America, central Africa, and the East Indies. The impact area is forecast to be 320 kilometers long and 84 kilometers wide. Within this region will fall approximately 42 fragments with a total mass of about 400 kilograms; the largest single fragment will weigh up to 120 kilograms. BeppoSAX was launched by NASA in 1996 to perform X-ray astronomy. The spacecraft completed its mission and was shut down one year ago.

Related Links:

•  SPACE.com article
•  New Scientist article
•  BeppoSAX reentry page