My old friend Chip Mahaney, news director at WTVR-TV in Richmond, Va.,
sent me a link to a story his station ran last night on the wayward satellite that's falling back to earth:
CBS 6 News has learned that federal and state emergency authorities are preparing for possible fallout from the dead U.S. spy satellite. The U.S. military plans to shoot a non-explosive missile at the wayward satellite as early as Wednesday night, but no final decision on timing has been made.
We've learned that local emergency authorities are receiving
specific information [PDF] from FEMA about how they and the general public should respond if someone encounters space debris. Much of this information was learned after the space shuttle Columbia exploded in 2003, casting debris over thousands of square miles of eastern Texas and western Louisiana.
The primary piece of advice for you and your family is: if you see it, don't touch it. Report it to your local police or fire authorities. Specifically, this satellite contains fuel and metal containers that are hazardous materials and could survive entry intact.
The link in the story [PDF] goes to a 21-page FEMA document with instructions on how to deal with the debris if it falls nearby.
