DESCENDING SPACE JUNK

Space Weather News for July 22, 2008
http://spaceweather.com

DESCENDING SPACE JUNK: Almost exactly one year ago, on July 23, 2007, International Space Station astronauts threw an obsolete, refrigerator-sized ammonia reservoir overboard. The 1400-lb piece of space junk has been circling Earth ever since and now, in July 2008, its orbit has decayed so much that it has become an easy naked-eye target for backyard sky watchers. The "Early Ammonia Servicer" (EAS for short) is almost as bright as the stars of the Big Dipper and growing brighter as it descends. Today's edition of http://spaceweather.com displays photos of the EAS, which is expected to burn up in Earth's atmosphere in late 2008 or early 2009. Readers who wish to see the EAS with their own eyes should check the Simple Satellite Tracker for flyby times: http://spaceweather.com/flybys. Europeans are favored with flybys this week, North Americans next week.

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