Something don’t smell right with this whole thing....... it’s orbiting erratically for starters and “experts” say they don’t know where it’s gonna land ??
I can help speak to some clarity on this..
In a nominal satellite orbit, there is no atmosphere or friction against its revolution around the planet, meaning it will remain at a certain velocity and altitude as long as nothing strikes it, etc..
Now, as an orbiting object decays from a stable and healthy orbit, it begins to push through atmosphere, which in basic physics, begins to introduce fluctuations in its orbit that someone can calculate accurately just by analyzing its rate of decay and other variables.
So as it goes through denser and denser atmosphere, a number of things start to rapidly fluctuate and therefore an accurate cone of expected reentry is not plausible until the very last few hours.
I can help speak to some clarity on this..
In a nominal satellite orbit, there is no atmosphere or friction against its revolution around the planet, meaning it will remain at a certain velocity and altitude as long as nothing strikes it, etc..
Now, as an orbiting object decays from a stable and healthy orbit, it begins to push through atmosphere, which in basic physics, begins to introduce fluctuations in its orbit that someone can calculate accurately just by analyzing its rate of decay and other variables.
So as it goes through denser and denser atmosphere, a number of things start to rapidly fluctuate and therefore an accurate cone of expected reentry is not plausible until the very last few hours.
That makes sense