this post was submitted on 21 Feb 2024
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Satellite weighing as much as adult rhino to crash through Earth's atmosphere today (www.cbsnews.com)
submitted 9 months ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/science@lemmy.world
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A satellite will likely make an uncontrolled return through Earth's atmosphere today, according to the latest estimates from the European Space Agency.

It says ERS-2, which weighs about as much as an adult male rhinoceros, is expected to re-enter at about 11:32 a.m. EST — plus or minus 4.6 hours. The agency can't predict exactly when and where the satellite will re-enter because its return is "natural."

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[–] BreadstickNinja@lemmy.world 75 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Ah, an adult rhino. A unit I work with on a daily basis and can easily comprehend, unlike arcane measurements of pounds or kilograms.

[–] FigMcLargeHuge@sh.itjust.works 21 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

I assume we are talking about an unladen adult rhino... And why didn't they specify the time in some understandable increment, for instance, it will re-enter in the time it would take a normal human to devour 18 triple cheeseburgers from the Burger King in Schenectady NY?

[–] thefartographer@lemm.ee 4 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

I just can't imagine this impact... How many rhinos is the Earth and how many times faster than a cheetah will it be traveling??? Plus, really, how far even is space??? You could at least tell me how many CVS receipts or flea jumps away the satellite is.

[–] mozz@mbin.grits.dev 5 points 9 months ago

Joke's on you, CBS knew that using this odd measurement in their headline would provoke discussion which would spread the story a lot more widely.

AND LOOK, IT'S WORKING