I just got a note from my friend Jim Oberg that the Federal Aviation Administration is warning pilots to be on the lookout for falling debris from USA 193!
8/5536 – SPECIAL NOTICE
.. THIS NOTAM REPLACES FDC 8/5501 DUE TO ADDITION OF CONTACT NUMBER. EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY UNTIL 0803092300 UTC. AIRCRAFT ARE ADVISED THAT A POTENTIAL HAZARD MAY OCCUR DUE TO REENTRY OF SATELLITE USA-193 DEBRIS INTO THE EARTHS ATMOSPHERE. FURTHER NOTAMS WILL BE ISSUED IF MORE INFORMATION BECOMES AVAILABLE. IN THE INTEREST OF FLIGHT SAFETY, IT IS CRITICAL THAT ALL PILOTS/FLIGHT CREW MEMBERS REPORT ANY OBSERVED FALLING SPACE DEBRIS TO THE APPROPRIATE ATC FACILITY TO INCLUDE POSITION, ALTITUDE, TIME, AND DIRECTION OF DEBRIS OBSERVED. FAA HEADQUARTERS, AIR TRAFFIC SYSTEMS OPERATIONS SECURITY, 202-493-5107, IS THE FAA COORDINATION FACILITY. WIE UNTIL UFN
I’ve poked around online and had a hard time finding this particular NOTAM; the FAA sends out a lot and this one may be scrolled off the current list. However, it looks legit (I’ve seen other credible sources who have reported it). So if you’re in a plane over the next few days, keep a lookout!
March 1st, 2008 at 1:03 pm
Is this for a plane flying anywhere over our planet or are there more vulnerable areas than others?
March 1st, 2008 at 1:19 pm
It’s legit. You can view the NOTAM here.
March 1st, 2008 at 1:49 pm
My question is did you remember to include a chapter in your upcoming book about being knocked out of the sky by space debris?
March 1st, 2008 at 2:16 pm
And, when a pilot sees a big chunk of junk coming directly toward him what should he do…pray?
March 1st, 2008 at 2:18 pm
My flight instructor once said – if you see a fly on your windscreen – and it sprouts wings – it is already to late.
This might also apply to falling space debris with one exception – it won’t have wings.
Bummer.
JC
March 1st, 2008 at 2:35 pm
I just got a briefing on DUAT and the notam is there. It is definitely real.
March 1st, 2008 at 3:10 pm
Fly toward it, you present a smaller target.
March 1st, 2008 at 3:20 pm
*scratches head* This sounds like overreacting to me.
March 1st, 2008 at 3:29 pm
I’m sure the odds are quite small, but even still it would be interesting to actually see any of the debris. Wouldn’t want it to hit the aircraft, though.
March 1st, 2008 at 3:45 pm
Here’s a riddle: If you’re piloting a plane doing 500 mph and a piece of space debris doing 17,000 mph comes straight at you, will you have time to crap your pants before dying?
March 1st, 2008 at 3:54 pm
I always hated those word problems.
March 1st, 2008 at 4:22 pm
Hmmm, I just called Flight Service and asked them to look up both FDC NOTAMs 8/5501 and 6/5536 and he said they don’t exist. I also checked with Los Angeles Center and they don’t have it, and never had such a NOTAM.
March 1st, 2008 at 4:24 pm
Ah good, I’m flying to LA next week. lol.
Nah, the odds seem so small that it should be business as usual in the air. But it makes sense to at least alert the pilots of airliners and other aircraft.
March 1st, 2008 at 4:38 pm
This is weird, to say the least, as already discussed in detail by M. Langbroek, an experienced sat and sat decay watcher.
March 1st, 2008 at 5:11 pm
Make that second one 8/5536.
March 1st, 2008 at 5:13 pm
And, when a pilot sees a big chunk of junk coming directly toward him what should he do…pray?
And keep an eye out for Mandy Patinkin
J/P=?
March 1st, 2008 at 5:17 pm
Did just find this tho, at http://tfr.faa.gov/save_pages/detail_8_5536.xml, so it was apparently issued Feb 20.
FDC 2008 5536 2008-02-20T19:06:00 8/5536 3be017f1-3185-43c1-baa4-de82b3e3f576 UTC UTC UNITED STATES Not SPECIAL RAS 410 HEI 0 FT HEI 0 FT NOTAM INCLUDE INCLUDE TRUE COMPOSITE TRUE FALSE ARTCC AFSS !FDC 8/5536 FDC SPECIAL NOTICE ..THIS NOTAM REPLACES FDC 8/5501 DUE TO ADDITION OF CONTACT NUMBER. EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY UNTIL 0803092300 UTC. AIRCRAFT ARE ADVISED THAT A POTENTIAL HAZARD MAY OCCUR DUE TO REENTRYOF SATELLITE USA-193 DEBRIS INTO THE EARTHS ATMOSPHERE. FURTHER NOTAMS WILL BE ISSUED IF MORE INFORMATION BECOMES AVAILABLE. IN THE INTEREST OF FLIGHT SAFETY, IT IS CRITICAL THATALL PILOTS/FLIGHT CREW MEMBERS REPORT ANY OBSERVED FALLING SPACEDEBRIS TO THE APPROPRIATE ATC FACILITY TO INCLUDE POSITION, ALTITUDE, TIME, AND DIRECTION OF DEBRIS OBSERVED. FAA HEADQUARTERS,AIR TRAFFIC SYSTEMS OPERATIONS SECURITY, 202-493-5107, IS THE FAA COORDINATION FACILITY. !FDC 8/5536 NOTHING US.. FLIGHT RESTRICTION. , US. PURSUANT TO <>
March 1st, 2008 at 5:21 pm
>>>Lugosion asked: “If you’re piloting a plane doing 500 mph and a piece of space debris doing 17,000 mph comes straight at you, will you have time to crap your pants before dying?”<<<
Well, keeping a positive frame of mind, there’s much more sky for the space junk to cover (quickly) than your plane at 500 mph, so it might be possible that you’d see it burning up and approaching from quite a ways off and reacting quickly, bank out of the way just as it passed.
Then, realizing a bullet was dodged, the pilot could fly safely on until the the adrenalin hit and crapping pants occurred. But at least he’d survive.
March 1st, 2008 at 6:05 pm
John Paradox — I loved Dead Like Me!! Great show. LOL, I knew this story reminded me of something.
March 2nd, 2008 at 2:52 am
Those who couldn’t find this NOTAM: point your browser to airspace.nifc.gov, and on the left click “TFR’s” and in the dropdown “TFR search”. Type 8/5536 in the searchbox and select “TFR ID”.
Tailspin provides a useful piece of information here in his comment: the issue date of this NOTAM, which nifc doesn’t provide. February 20th (assuming it is GMT/UTC) is actually before the hit on the satellite.
March 2nd, 2008 at 12:41 pm
If Ellen Muth comes flying at me I’m NOT getting out of the way! She’s so dreamy! And smart! (druelling on keyboard now…)
Wow, that NOTAM is valid until august 09…
And the basic rule about things coming at your in the air, is that if you see NO relative motion, it’s coming right for you. So something very small moving very fast would be impossible to see.
On the bright side, (i study aircraft safety/accidents) I cannot recall any accidents resulting from objects entering the atmosphere. Remember only 1 person in recorded history was ever hit by such an object!
March 2nd, 2008 at 8:57 pm
1) Are you sure this isn’t the notification to avoid the area of the SM-3 launch (and the bits and pieces of it falling back down a few minutes later?) At the time, the 1st public information about the intended date and time of the satellite intercept was an official notification to stay away from an area northwest of Hawaii on Feb 21 at a particular time, which people promptly figured out was when USA193 was due to pass overhead. (Until that time, they were very vague about the when and where.)
2) This seems like massive overreaction. Dozens of objects just as large as the fragments of USA193 reenter the earth’s atmosphere every day.
USA193 is a temporary blip, but nothing out of the ordinary. The vast majority of the fragments are much too small to survive reentry and will burn up 50-75 miles up. Airliners typically fly 4-8 miles high.