Reply #4: Falling Satellite Slows Down, Earth Strike Delayed ...NPR

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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A 6-ton NASA satellite on a collision course with Earth clung to space Friday, apparently flipping position in its ever-lower orbit and stalling its death plunge.

The old research spacecraft was targeted to crash through the atmosphere sometime Friday night or early Saturday, putting the U.S. back in the potential crosshairs, although most of the satellite should burn up during re-entry.

"It just doesn't want to come down," said Jonathan McDowell of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

McDowell said the satellite's delayed demise demonstrates how unreliable predictions can be. That said, "the best guess is that it will still splash in the ocean, just because there's more ocean out there."

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=140751827