Russian Satellite Kosmos-1220 to hit Earth poses ‘very real danger’

SPACE experts have warned a Russian satellite is expected to come crashing back down to Earth. But where will its parts fall?

A Russian satellite ... is due to come back down to Earth.

SPACE experts have warned a Russian satellite is due to come crashing back down to Earth. But where will its parts fall?

The parts of the Kosmos-1220 satellite are expected to re-enter the planet’s atmosphere at high speeds, Russian officials have confirmed.

Most of the locations of where the fragments will land, still remain unknown.

“As of February 7, 2014 the fragments are expected to fall on February 16,” Colonel Alexei Zolotukhin told Russian news agency Ria Novosti.

They said this will pose a “very real danger”.

But Zolotukhin said the parts he thought the parts would plunge into the Pacific Ocean, but he could not confirm it.

“The exact impact time and location of the fragments from the Kosmos-1220 satellite may change due to external factors,” Zolotukhin said.

This uncertainty means the satellite could potentially fall anywhere on Earth.

Where will it fall? .... A satellite image of planet Earth. Picture: Nasa/Instagram

Similar uncontrolled descents — such as the November 2013 re-entry of the European Space Agency’s GOES satellite — have crashed harmlessly into the ocean. But in 1978, a different decommissioned Kosmos satellite crashed into an unoccupied part of Canada, spreading radioactive debris and leading to a lengthy clean-up.

In 2009, a third Kosmos satellite crashed at over 26,000 miles per hour with a US Iridium telecommunications satellite, sending thousands of bits of space junk into orbit.

The exact size and weight of the Kosmos-1220 satellite is unknown, Ria Novosti reported.

Astronomy magazine editor David Eicher told FoxNews.com that a lot of it will burn up in the atmosphere, but fragments of Kosmos-1220 will reach Earth.

“What we have going for us is that most of the planet is covered with water, and highly populated areas are in the minority of our planet’s surface area. So it is unlikely that satellite debris will cause injuries or major damage. Still, with such a re-entry, we are playing the odds.”

“This is a very real danger, given that a decaying orbit will carry this satellite down onto the planet,” Eicher said.

A scientist with NASA’s Orbital Debris Program Office did not immediately respond to FoxNews.com’s emails for details about the Kosmos satellite, nor did officials with the ESA’s Space Debris Office.

Alex Donohue, spokesman for British gambling giant Ladbrokes, told FoxNews.com his agency wasn’t taking bets on the satellite, but he offered some odds anyway:

Pacific Ocean: 2/1

North & South American: 3/1

Russia: 4/1

Asia: 5/1

Australiasia: 5/1

Atlantic: 8/1

Europe: 10/1