On 5/03/2011 8:29 PM, Brian Gaff wrote:
Hmm, in the press conf yesterday, someone asked about rubbish. and of course
they said it was packed into a now redundant spacecraft and destroyed by
burning it up over the Pacific. However, this begs some questions. firstly,
does it, in fact all burn up, and second, is this really the way to do it
considering all the products of said destructive burning are put into the
upper atmosphere.


Brian


If you mean 'combustion byproducts' (pollution), there will be some, but
it's at comparitively high altitude and probably won't affect the
atmosphere.

There may, however, be some components of the spacecraft itself that
'land' on water. That's one of the main reasons for re-entry over the
ocean.