9/11, the sheer scale of the collapse...

[JamesW]

I'm wondering if Gusset Sniffer realises that the odds of 3200-1 are the odds of any of the 26 pieces of debris hitting ANYONE on the planet, not of hitting him or any other specific individual.

Given that world population is about 7 billion, the odds against Gusset Sniffer being struck by debris from the satellite appear to be about 1 in 21 trillion.

[Gusset Sniffer]

Yes your right. Now I understand. Thanks. I'LL put my helmet away now !wink!
If I get hit I'll surely be the unluckiest person on the planet?

[rgb]

My wife is getting very exercised over the possibility of a bit of satellite landing on her runner beans.

[David Johnson]

Try and get her to be more positive. Has she never fancied having a new garden pond?

CHeers
D

[rgb]

Tried - her fears remain unallayed.

[andy at handiwork]

The latest Walkers crisps ad features a crisp falling from a high building in London. Sadly Lineker catches it before we see how much damage it might have done to the pavement had it hit. Terminal velocity is difficult to judge as much of its fall is shot in slo-mo.

[max_tranmere]

My god, just think, had it hit the ground it would have left a huge crater. Building companies in the future could save a fortune by not having to dig foundations for skyscrapers - simply drop a crisp from a helicopter and the foundations are dug!!grin!

[JamesW]

It looks like the satellite will hit the ground (or more likely the sea) at some time this evening. In the event of damage to runner beans I'm sure that the U.S. will pay compensation for the beans under the 1972 Convention on International Liability for Damage Caused by Space Objects.

[JamesW]

Latest: There are reports on Twitter of satellite debris falling over Okotoks, a small town 11 miles south of the city of Calgary in Alberta, western Canada.

[JamesW]

"I heard that if you dropped a stale sandwich off the top (with an elastic band holding it together) it would go through the roof of a bus."

The roof of a bus is pretty strong as it is designed to withstand crushing should the bus be involved in a serious collision and roll over. This means that, on a rough calculation, your stale sandwich would need to be pretty heavy to pierce a bus roof, say 150kg or more.