Satellite pieces enters atmosphere

Germany's Aerospace Center says a defunct satellite has entered the atmosphere but there is no information yet on whether any of its pieces have crashed into Earth.

Agency spokesman Andreas Schuetz said Sunday there was no indication yet above which continent or country the ROSAT scientific research satellite entered the atmosphere.

He says scientists are no longer able to communicate with the dead satellite and it must have traveled about 12,500 miles (20,000 kilometers) in the last 30 minutes before entering the atmosphere. Experts are now waiting for "observations from around the world."

Most parts of the minivan-sized satellite have been expected to burn up during re-entry, but up to 30 fragments weighing 1.87 tons (1.7 metric tons) could crash into Earth at speeds up to 280 mph (450 kph).