Satellite Crash: Junk That Fell to Earth

Some things you just can't prepare for. The image here, taken by photographer Peter Idoine, is believed to be of a satellite crashing into the Tasman Sea near Auckland, New Zealand, last night. Can you imagine having something like this fall on your head while making miles offshore?

I do recall once sailing right by Cape Canaveral in the very early morning when a shuttle got launched. It was beyond spectacular. And here's the evil reminder: stuff comes down again, too. Reminds me of a line from an old Tom Lehrer song about Wernher von Braun:

Once rocket up

Who cares where it comes down?

That's not my department

Says Wernher von Braun

For more variations of the sat crash image you can check the Sail-World site.

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Written by: Charles Doane

Charles Doane is an editor-at-large for SAIL, where he previously was a senior editor. He also served as managing editor at Offshore and associate editor at Cruising World. Charles has logged more than 40,000 miles as an offshore sailor, including six transatlantic passages and some single-handed passages. His blog posts appear courtesy of his website www.WaveTrain.net.