EIAST Denies Fall of Russian Space Debris Around UAE Territory

Dubai, January 29 (QNA) - Emirates Institution for Advanced Science and Technology (EIAST) has denied as ''baseless and inaccurate'' news reports claiming fall of debris of a Russian satellite in and around the UAE territory. EIAST affirmed in a statement its issued today that that it has analysed the reported threat posed by a Russian satellite, called COSMOS 1484, re-entering the earth's atmosphere, which some claim will fall in and around UAE territory. ''EIAST wishes to ensure the public that such an occurrence poses virtually no threat since the friction caused by re-entry into the atmosphere causes the satellite to break down into pieces and burn out. Every few days such space debris enters the atmosphere and is destroyed. For COSMOS 1484, the same is anticipated. The satellite was launched by the Soviet Union in 1983. The payload was meant for gathering scientific information about Earth. It weighs around 2,500 Tons. Attached is a picture of a dummy of the satellite. In reality, when satellites enter the atmosphere, they break down into pieces (since they are not designed or manufactured for re-entry, like thickness of structure, material used, no. of bolts, etc). Every few days, such Space debris enters the atmosphere and gets destroyed. For COSMOS 1484, the same is anticipated. However, no guarantees are available, since the entry event is a very complicated and no modelling is possible to predict the destruction properly. Also, even with very advanced technologies available only to the US, the prediction of re-entry is not accurate. In the current case, COSMOS 1484 was expected to enter the atmosphere on Dec 19, Jan 7, and then Jan 11. After re-entry, the satellite may continue to orbiting Earth, hence, there exists a very small probability that small pieces may hit the ground (after surviving the burn out), but it could be almost anywhere on earth.(QNA)