A satellite weighing about as much as an adult male rhinoceros is set to re-enter Earth's atmosphere today, but scientists don't know exactly when or where.

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.”

  • mozz@mbin.grits.dev
    74·
    10 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

      • mozz@mbin.grits.dev
        31·
        10 months ago

        I mean, I didn’t either. I’m just here to talk about the rhino comparison.

        • ForestOrca@kbin.social
          4·
          10 months ago

          We’ve got to stick to the important matters, or we’ll never get anything done. I mean geeze, they didn’t even specify which kind of rhino!! I mean there are 5 living species White, Black, Indian, Javan, and Sumatran, that range in size from 700 to 3200kg. All of which I’ve just learned from wikipedia in the last few minutes. Standards, dammit, we need STANDARDS!! :-D