Falling junk satellite manages not to kill anyone

GlobalPost

German space junk plummeting to the earth's surface has plopped safely into the Bay of Bengal, not a packed metropolis in China as scientists briefly feared.

According to the Associated Press, a defunct satellite has likely landed somewhere in the large sea between India and Thailand. 

Most of the satellite likely burned up in the earth's atmosphere though nearly two tons worth of fragments were on a trajectory that could have crashed into the large Chinese cities Chongqing or Chengdu.

But that didn't happen. Still, according to the Taiwan News, scientists still aren't exactly sure where the space junk landed.

Will you support The World? 

The story you just read is accessible and free to all because thousands of listeners and readers contribute to our nonprofit newsroom. We go deep to bring you the human-centered international reporting that you know you can trust. To do this work and to do it well, we rely on the support of our listeners. If you appreciated our coverage this year, if there was a story that made you pause or a song that moved you, would you consider making a gift to sustain our work through 2024 and beyond?