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16 Sep 2011 16:53

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Tech: NASA: Dead satellite could break apart, fall to Earth in giant chunks

  • six the weight of the dead satellite, in tons — which is pretty heavy
  • 26 the number of pieces the satellite could break into, according to NASA
  • 350 the possible weight of one of the chunks, in pounds source
  • » Better odds than the lottery: What are the odds a person might get hit by a piece of space junk, according to NASA? One in 3,200. To put this in perspective, the odds that a person playing the lottery might win are 1 in 175,000,000. The big difference of course? You want to win the lottery. You don’t want a giant piece of broken satellite turning you into a postmodern Chicken Little. NASA says it’ll have more info next week. (src ProducerMatthew)

23 May 2010 11:48

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Tech: GPS in need of an upgrade, and it’s gonna cost a couple bucks

  • $8 billion to upgrade the widely used geo-navigation system source
  • before The system had a margin of error of about 20 feet – OK for driving, bad for walking a city street.
  • after After the upgrade, the system will be able to get within an arm’s length of the location. Whoa, cool!
  • » Not just for nav: It’s used for all sorts of purposes, including tracking financial transactions from ATMs and stock trades. In 2007, when the system was knocked offline in San Diego, cell phones and hospital paging systems stopped working. In other words, the technology, which currently uses 24 satellites to do its dirty work, is pretty useful.