Georgia , Tbilisi, Sept. 26 / Trend , N.Kirtzkhalia /
Gersmaia family, living in Kutaisi, claims that small particles of the American satellite landed in their yard after Kutaisi residents found metal fragments on Saturday evening.
They claim that fragments were initially hot. The spots where they fell to were singed.
Specialists of the Environment Protection Ministry's Regional Observatory have already studied the pieces for radioactivity and found no radiation. However , the study will continue .
Experts still cannot clearly identify the origin of the metal. However, they claim that fragments from the U.S. satellite that fell onto Canadian soil could not have been found in Georgia.
An Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS), weighing 6.5 tons, was designed to study the upper atmosphere. It operated in orbit for 14 years, beginning in 1991 when it was first launched. It was decommissioned in 2005 and put into sleep mode.
After NASA refused to continue operating the satellite in 2005, a proposal was made to remove the satellite from orbit on a shuttle. The satellite was not removed at the time, but rather moved to a lower altitude and placed into "sleep" mode. Subsequently, the satellite collided with an unknown object. Experts considered the likely cause of the UARS destruction to have been collision with a fragment from the Soviet "Kosmos-1275" satellite.
NASA believes the object should not have burned entirely during reentry into the atmosphere. As many as 26 fragments of the general mass and at least 500 kg should have reached Earth. The largest fragment should have been the core hub, with a mass weight of 150 kg.
The UARS mission's total cost was estimated at about $750 million.