Experts do not know if it is a fragment of an old mission or a celestial rock
An object about three meters long, in an orbit beyond the moon will fall to Earth this week. It is in the Indian Ocean, south of Sri Lanka, on Friday morning. The following experts are not clear and its origin: it can be a meteorite, but also a fragment of a mission of the era of lunar exploration. It is called WT1190F and poses no risk of impact on residential areas.
“The way it moves, its low mass and size, we tend to think it’s a piece of space junk, but we can not rule it is a rock, “says Miguel Bello-Mora, orbital dynamics expert and director of the company Elecnor Deimos, which has a department dedicated specifically to monitor space debris.
As for the size of WT1190F, It is estimated to be between one meter, if it is too bright, and six meters, if it is darker, continues this specialist. “With new telescopes we have installed in Puertollano (Ciudad Real), will observe the object Thursday night and we can refine its trajectory,” he added.
The calculated density of these objects is crucial for identification as a natural or artificial waste celestial object. Given the high cost of sending any cargo space, engineers strive to reduce their weight and are extremely lightweight compared to a rock, which has much higher density.
The curious WT1190F is that it has recently it has been discovered by observation systems and monitoring of near-Earth objects and speculation that may be a fragment identified years and his track was lost
http: /. /elpais.com/elpais/2015/11/10/ciencia/1447182839_975172.html
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