London, Sept 24 (ANI): NASA's defunct six-ton satellite plummeted through Earth's atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean early on Saturday, possibly raining debris over parts of Canada and Africa, the space agency said.
It announced that the decommissioned Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) fell back to Earth between 11.23pm and 1.09am on Saturday morning (3.23am GMT to 5.09am GMT).
Agency officials had projected that UARS would fall to Earth sometime this afternoon, but the satellite's unpredictable tumbling, combined with more stable solar activity, slowed its rate of descent today.
Upon tracking, the satellite, which broke up during its re-entry through the atmosphere, was shown flying over Canada, Africa and parts of the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans.
"The satellite was passing eastward over Canada and Africa as well as vast portions of the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans during that period," the Telegraph quoted NASA saying in a statement on the UARS website.
NASA said it was still trying to determine the precise re-entry time and location.
"The precise re-entry time and location are not yet known with certainty," it added.
With most of the planet covered in water and vast uninhabited deserts and other land directly beneath the satellite's flight path, the chance that someone would be hit by falling debris was 1-in-3200, NASA said.
"The risk to public safety is very remote," it added.
The satellite flew over most of the planet, travelling between 57 degrees north and 57 degrees south of the equator.
UARS is the largest NASA satellite to fall uncontrolled from space in 32 years. (ANI)
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