Research satellite crashes to Earth

BERLIN (AP:

A defunct German research satellite crashed into Earth yesterday somewhere in southeast Asia and several parts must have survived re-entering the atmosphere before hitting the surface at a speed of up to 280 mph (450 kph), scientists said.

Most parts of the minivan-sized ROSAT scientific research satellite were expected to burn up, but up to 30 fragments weighing a total of 1.87 tons (1.7 metric tons) could have crashed, according to the German Aerospace Centre.

But there were no immediate reports of debris crashing into Earth, indicating it did not hit a populated area, agency spokesman Andreas Schuetz said.

Hours before the re-entry into the atmosphere, the centre said the satellite was not expected to hit over Europe, Africa or Australia. According to the satellite's predicted path, scientists estimated it could have been above Asia at the time of its re-entry.

Jonathan McDowell of the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts, said the satellite appears to have gone down over southeast Asia.