Hi all. Here is another newspaper's article (in spanish): http://www.pagina12web.com.ar/diario/sociedad/3-30635.html It seems that was already determined (by CONAE, using data provided by NASA) that the object was the third stage of a Delta 2 rocket used for launch the GPS Navstar 35 satellite. Here is a "very rough" translation of the article (sorry, but my english is still very poor): *** Article *** Newspaper: Pagina 12 Date: January 22, 2004. A satellite's burned piece fell off on a "Correntinian" field THE ATTACK OF THE SPACE JUNK It was spoken of a UFO or a piece of airplane. But the object turned out to be part of a satellite. It has the size of a Fiat 600. The danger of the space junk orbits without control. Oval-shaped like a spark plug. Great like a "fitito". But with a much smaller weight: hardly between 40 and 50 kilograms. This, far from being a riddle, is the description of the object that fell off from the space the last Tuesday in the northeast of Corrientes. Like a "bad light" but the Hollywood style, the neighbors of that countryside saw a ball of fire that fell fleetingly in the field, to about 500 meters of their houses. The object, of American origin, exploded when hit the ground and caused a tremor that, by some seconds, paralyzed to the villagers. The National Commission of Space Activities (CONAE) determined -using information provided by the NASA- that the strange element would be part of the third stage of propulsion of the rocket Delta 2 used to place in orbit satellite GPS Navstar 35, launched on October 26th, 1993 from Cap Canaveral, in Florida. Although the object fell at 9:15 (local time; 12:15 UT), according to the neighbors, the news arrived at 19:00 to the provincial Government House. The group of villagers who were witnesses of the fall had to wait until the strong rain stopped to be able to leave to the route and to warn the local authorities about the appearance of this object, in which yesterday, soon after being transferred to the provincial capital, worked a team of experts. Today more details of the rocket stage will be determined. Last night was already known that it was a metallic object of about 40 or 50 kg, with a diameter of 3.60 meters, a thickness of 1.40 m, and one inscription that indicated "Made in Italy". But in spite of to be made in that European country, the object was sent by the United States, one of the greater triggers of this type of objects. The appearance took place to about 15 kilometers of the locality of San Roque and to about 200 of Corrientes (provincial capital). Altogether, it's calculated that there are more than 8000 objects of this type flying around. CONAE's Executive Director, Conrado Varotto, explained to Página/12 that the fall of elements form space "is happening almost daily", and he admitted that "there was information about possible object falls on January 19th", a day before the appearance in the Corrientes' sky. Anyway, Varotto clarified that each country is responsible for which sends out, and they must warn in case that can have some problem with its launching or fall. In this case, the United States would have anticipated that the object was not going to fall over a populated area. Varotto explained that "there are elements that finish their lifetime and disintegrate, but there are others that have parts that were not totally destroyed and then they fall to the Earth surface". Thus, this is one more of the landings that periodically resound in the Earth as a result of the "limitless" launching of space objects destined to diverse studies. The indiscriminate launching of elements represents "a danger" for the Planet, Varotto said. Even, exists the risk of which they take place "crashes" between objects, although the probabilities are low, he declared. Nevertheless, the concern about the lost elements in the galaxy ("translated sic") deserved the creation, by the United Nations, of the Committee for Pacific Use of the Deep Space to study a solution to these phenomena. Rumors followed one another yesterday during the day about the identification of the object, that turned fire when exploding in the air, varied more from the based estimations to the wildest speculations. Moments after to have known the news the fall, some began to fantasize with the idea of an UFO. A group of neighbors said, even, that the object spill off a yellow liquid. Others wait for the results of the studies made to the strange element. First in arriving yesterday, at 10:00, to the "El Rosado" private country was a special equipment of the provincial government with radioactive measurers to verify that the space-junk didn't made dangerous emissions, according to Manuel Aguirre, Corrientes' Subsecretary of Security (NT: or Safety). After the verification of radioactive activity, the provincial authorities communicated with the CONAE, that was in charge of the investigation. At noon, this part of the rocket was transferred towards the provincial Capital, where expert works on it to know its origin. According to which Aguirre said to Página/12, the object has a weight of about 40 or 50 kg, and it's prominent its lightness. Before knowing its origin, some specialists considered that the object, that also had an identification with numbers and letters, was a component of the fuel tank of a satellite. This "space junk" left a crack on the ground of about 70 centimeters depth in one of the ends, and rest of grass burned out around him in the field. *** End of Article *** Best regards ! Ing. Gustavo E. Ballan Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina Some notes: "Fiat 600": Little compact old car, similar to a Seat 600 (spanish made). Also known as "fitito" (little Fiat), because of its little size. Corrientes: Argentinian province (state) located near the junction between the rivers Paraguay and Paraná, on the Argentine-Paraguay border. "Bad light": faint lights that can be seen during some nights from the country. There is a popular belief between the inhabitants of the country that assume that these light carry out bad luck. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe/Unsubscribe info, Frequently Asked Questions, SeeSat-L archive: http://www.satobs.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
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