Observing the re-enty of space debris WT1190F

Dr. Jenniskens will describe the airborne observations he took part in of the re-entry of space debris on Nov 13, 2016.

The International Astronomical Center (IAC) and the United Arab Emirates Space Agency recently hosted a team of veteran U.S. and German observers of spacecraft re-entries, including SETI Institute research scientist Peter Jenniskens, to study the predicted re-entry of an approximately 1-meter piece of space debris near Sri Lanka on November 13, 2015.

"What makes the return of this man-made object so special," says IAC director Mohammad Odeh, "is that it moves on a very elongated orbit, returning to Earth only once every 23 days. When WT1190F, as it is called, finally hits the Earth's atmosphere, it comes in steeper and faster than normal."

Speaker: Peter Jenniskens, SETI