As of: March 9, 2024, 4:54 a.m
By: Michelle Brey, Tanja Banner
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The debris that fell from the ISS to Earth was seen over Germany.
A video is circulating on Twitter.
Update from March 8, 2024, 9:50 p.m.:
At 7:21 p.m., the debris from Westend flew over central Germany at a height of 139 kilometers.
This was announced by the Bundeswehr Space Situation Center in Uedem, Lower Rhine.
There was no further overflight over Germany.
Instead, the ISS part crashed into the Atlantic.
“Very fast, bright object” spotted in the sky: space debris flies over Germany
Update from March 8, 2024, 8:15 p.m.:
The space debris flight from North Rhine-Westphalia towards Cottbus should be seen at around 7:20 p.m., as First Lieutenant Alexander Richter told
Bild
.
If visibility is good, it is possible to see a tracer in the sky.
In fact, some users on Twitter reported that they recognized something in the sky.
So wrote scientist Dr.
Marco Langbroeck from the Netherlands via Twitter said he was able to see a “very fast, bright object”.
Another user also confirmed that she had recognized a “bright object” in the sky over Germany.
Videos are even supposed to show the space debris - over Germany and the Netherlands.
Authenticity cannot be independently verified.
Update from March 8, 2024, 2:20 p.m.:
At the times when the space debris flies over Germany (see info box below), with a bit of luck you can also see the debris over Germany, says the head of the Starkenburg Observatory in Heppenheim , Rainer Kresken, to
Merkur.de
from IPPEN.MEDIA.
The object is flying from east to west.
“The earlier the overflight is, the greater the probability that it will survive,” says the ESA space engineer, but immediately adds: “The first overflight is also after the most likely re-entry time.”
However, if you can see the piece of space junk, “it could be pretty spectacular,” says Kresken.
“You could potentially see a spectacular fireball.” However, exactly when the debris will enter the Earth's atmosphere remains unclear - it is extremely difficult to predict the time and place of entry of space debris for several reasons.
Space debris: It could currently fall anywhere on Earth
First report from March 8, 2024, 12:00 p.m.:
Munich - A piece of space debris, about the size of a car, is currently keeping parts of Germany in suspense.
There is a probability - albeit a very small one - that some of this space debris will fall to Earth over Germany.
The discarded battery pack was dropped from the International Space Station ISS in 2021 and has been orbiting the Earth ever since.
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“It is certain that it will not burn up completely, it is too big and too dense,” explains astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell when asked by
Merkur.de
.
“The probability that re-entry will take place via Germany is only one percent.”
But even if the debris from the ISS is very unlikely to hit Germany, they could be seen or heard here.
The Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance (BBK) also warned about “luminous phenomena or the perception of a sonic boom” via the Katwarn and NINA apps.
In March 2021, the robotic arm of the International Space Station released the battery pack into space.
It will fall to Earth in March 2024 - the space debris could also hit Germany.
(Archive image) © Nasa/Imago Images
Debris from the ISS: Space debris could be seen as “shooting stars”.
Former Esa boss Jan Wörner considers the danger from space debris in Germany to be low.
“Batteries really like to burn.
I assume that the package will almost completely burn up in the atmosphere,” emphasizes Wörner to the
dpa
news agency .
“Maybe you’ll see the disassembly as a beautiful shooting star.”
The most important questions about space debris
Where is the space junk now?
A map shows the ISS debris live.
Who is liable if space debris hits my house?
Liability for debris from space has been clarified.
What danger does space debris pose to the Earth?
In fact, the danger to space travel is greater than to Earth.
The battery block will not fall as a compact individual part in a narrow area, but will be distributed in a longer trail of debris, explains the head of the ESA space security program, Holger Krag, on
tagesschau.de
.
McDowell also sees it this way: “The object weighs around 2,600 kilograms, of which probably 500 to 700 kilograms will survive re-entry in small pieces.” These pieces would then fall to Earth “over a long strip of a few hundred kilometers along the trajectory.” fall, according to the expert.
Debris from the ISS: They could be seen as light trails
Experts can use radar to determine whether the piece of debris is still in orbit around the Earth.
It is also possible for light trails to be observed in the sky and captured via photo or video.
In fact, a satellite observer from Leiden in the Netherlands managed to observe and film the space debris as it flew over on Thursday evening (March 7th).
The EP9 battery block is not the first space debris to fall uncontrollably to Earth.
On average, an object enters the Earth's atmosphere about every week that is large enough not to burn up completely, says the European Space Agency Esa when asked by
Merkur.de
.
“So far, however, rubble has rarely been found and damage is rare,” it continues.
Space debris falls to Earth almost every day
In more than 55 years, 166 pieces of space debris with a total weight of around four tons have been found on Earth.
Four major cases in which targeted searches for space debris took place are explicitly excluded - for example the tragic crash of the space shuttle "Columbia" in the USA in 2003.
When the space debris flies over which parts of Germany
5:51 p.m. - 5:52 p.m.:
Eifelkreis – Gießen – Erfurt – Leipzig – Dresden – Görlitz – here Frankfurt and the Rhine-Main area are in the endangered corridor
7:22 p.m. - 7:23 p.m.:
Ruhr area - Northern Hesse - Leipzig - Dresden - Görlitz - here Kassel is in the endangered corridor
8:54 p.m. - 8:54 p.m.:
Breisgau – Upper Black Forest – Oberallgäu
Source:
BBK overflight map
At a media talk in 2023, Tim Flohrer, head of the ESA space debris department, spoke about the dangers posed by debris from space: “The risk on the ground from re-entries is very small,” the expert explained at the time.
“To date, no one on the ground has been harmed.”
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