I know that comparing things to football fields is a pain-point for the WLBOTT team. So how about this one:
A satellite will likely make an uncontrolled return through Earth’s atmosphere on Wednesday, according to the latest estimates from the European Space Agency.
ERS-2, which weighs about as much as an adult male rhinoceros, could re-enter about 15 hours earlier or later than expected, according to the space agency. The agency cannot predict exactly when and where the satellite will enter Earth’s atmosphere because its return is “natural.”
I’m reminded of the line in Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy where the narrator, referring to a whale descending to earth said: “It hung in the air exactly the way bricks don’t.” I’m sure the phrase could be applied to rhinoceri.
And a 30 hour window?? Imagine how the crew of the next moon mission, on returning to earth, were told that they will land sometime in the next 30 hours, somewhere.
UC#1
