‘Out of Control’ Russian Rocket Heading Towards Earth Today

We all could be doomed later today (Wednesday, Jan. 5) as a 20 Ton Russian Rocket is due to crash on earth around lunchtime. Will it hit the Hudson Valley area?

Here's something I never thought I'd be talking about but after just getting tipped off on this wild story, we felt it was imperative to share. According to Weatherboy, the Russian Angara-5 rocket successfully launched from Russia on Dec. 27 but, it's upper stage Persei rocket and attached payload failed to get into orbit and now, the out of control, 20 ton Russian Rocket is tumbling back to Earth. An updated forecast shows that it cold strike the earth this afternoon. The forecast shows the rocket re-entering around 12:44pm ET, but because the rocket will be entering the Earth's atmosphere uncontrolled, and it could shift around erratically, the timing could be off.

The Persei upper stage rocket had initially carried a dummy payload into space as part of Russia's Angara A5 rocket test. While the launch was flawless, the upper stage rocket failed to successfully fire. While the rocket payload is estimated at 20 tons, it is not yet known how much the rocket or it's payload will make it to the Earth's surface. Center for Astrophysics Astronomer Johnathan McDowell commented on Twitter, saying that a dry mass of 4 tons could make it's way down, allowing for "some bits to reach Earth surface." So it remains to be seen, when exactly and where exactly on earth that the rocket will strike, but let's all be vigilant, and hope our fellow Hudson Valley friends and family remain safe.