NASA Satellite Debris Likely Fell in Ocean, May Never Be Found
No credible reports yet of UARS spacecraft pieces, agency says.
The U.S. military's Joint Space Operations Center estimated that the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite, or UARS, toppled from the sky at 12:16 a.m. ET Saturday.
(See "NASA Satellite Falling Faster Due to Solar Activity.")
If that's correct, the 1,100 pounds (500 kilograms) of debris that were predicted to survive reentry would have splashed down in the northern Pacific, far west of California.
But "we may never know" exactly where the spacecraft met its fate, NASA's Nick Johnson said on Saturday.
NASA needs observations from the public to be certain of the location of remnants from the satellite, which is the biggest NASA spacecraft to make an uncontrolled reentry in more than 30 years, Johnson said.
He hopes eyewitness accounts from ships or airliners will eventually
