So where DID the satellite land? Nasa say plummeting pieces have fallen to Earth... but location remains a mystery
An out-of-control satellite probably crashed to Earth today, splitting up into dozens of fragments, Nasa has revealed.
But experts at the space agency still do not know exactly where pieces, which plummeted towards our planet at 18,000mph, landed - except that it did not touch U.S. airspace.
A Tweet on Nasa's official Twitter account this morning said debris from the six-tonne Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite had landed.
And if they hit land at all, it is likely to have come down in Canada or Africa.But the agency said it is seeking official confirmation with the UnitedStates Strategic Command.
And it added, on another Tweet, that anyone who finds a piece of debris would have to hand it over.
The agency said: 'Any pieces of #UARS found are still the property of the country that made it. You'll have to give 'em back to U.S.'
Flying high: The Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) fell to earth this morning, and if it hit land at all it would have been in Canada or Africa
Tumbling to Earth: Images from astrophotographer Thierry Legault's video show the 20-year-old Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS), appearing as a beaming mass of light
The craft was being tracked by all available equipment, including a giant radar at RAF Fylingdales on the North York Moors, England, on its path towards our planet.
NASA said it would only know two hours before impact where it would land and even that p! redictio n would only beaccurate to the nearest 6,000 miles.
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The agency said it could be anywhere between the 57th parallel north, which crosses Britain at around Inverness, and the 57th parallel south, which passes just below South America.
Global interest in the satellite grew yesterday: a website set up to 'track' the falling satellite was constantly crashing under incredible demand, and an app for Android smartphones, Satellite AR, allowed people to 'see' where it was at any moment.
How the satellite will fall to Earth
Danger: The six-ton Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite will crash to Earth and could land in Britain
Best guess: The satellite could fall anywhere between the two latitudes, where billions of people live
An incredible video captured the doomed Nasa satellite earlier this week as NASA experts slowly narrowed down the area where it could strike.
Astrophotographer Thierry Legault's clip, shot in northern France, shows the 20-year-old UARS satellite, appearing as a beaming mass of light as it careers to Earth.
The station at RAF Fylingdalers was originally built at the height of the Cold War to track any incoming ballistic missile attack - a role it still performs.
An RAF spokeswoman said: 'The Space Operations Room at Royal Air Force Fylingdales is manned 24 hours a day by specialist Royal Air Force and civilian personnel, and its operators will be working to track the UARS object as it returns to the atmosphere.
'The Solid State Phased Array Radar isbeing tasked by the United States Air Force and the Royal Air Force to concentrate its radar energy towards the object in order to track its final orbit.'
'This information will then be used by various different agencies to predict the path of re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere.'
The 20-year-old Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite was the biggest Nasa spacecraft to fall uncontrolled from the sky in 32 years.
It was expected to break into more than 100 pieces as it enters the atmosphere, most of it burning up.
The heaviest metal parts were expected to reach Earth, the biggest chunk weighing about 300lb.
It was thought the debris couldbe scattered over an area about 500 miles long.
Mr Legault's footage of UARS was captured through the lens of his Celestron EdgeHD 14in Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope in Dunkerque, France on September 15 - eight to nine days before its estimated re-entry.
Filmed at an altitude of only 250km, the body of the UARS is visible, as a! re its s olar arrays.
Mr Legault told the skywatching website Spaceweather.com at the time: 'The satellite appears to be tumbling, perhapsbecause a collision with satellite debris a few years ago. The variations in brightness are rapid and easily visible to the human eye.'
The Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite, or UARS, ran out of fuel in 2005.
Nasa spokesman Steve Cole said: Anybody who finds a piece of the satellite should stay away from it andcall the police and let them deal with it.
It could be very hot or it could be dangerous. It depends on what speed the debris is going, but it could gobe going fast enough to go through a house.'
It was falling to Earth at five miles per second, faster than previously thought and experts said there was a one in 3,200 chance of someone being hit by debris more likely than getting a hole in one during a round of golf.
The 35ft Nasa craft was put into space in 1991 to monitor climate change.
Astrophotographer: Thierry Legault captured the incredible footage in Dunkerque, France on his Celestron EdgeHD 14in Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope
Junk yard in space: UARS is one of the thousands of objects in Earth orbit being tracked by Nasa, as shown by this computer graphic
In 1979 Skylab, which was 15 times bigger, rained charred chunks on the Indian Ocean and western Australia after Nasa said it would land in South Africa.
In 2003 when the space shuttle Columbia exploded upon re-entry killing its entire crew, large chunks ofits shell landed across Texas.
To view astrophotographer Thierry Legault's website, clickhere.
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