Every satellite should be rigged to self destruct at a certain point. Broken in pieces it would probably totally burn itself out before it hit the ground. Is there a reason they don't do this?
Marq - Probably because it has the potential to knock out the other 10,000+ estimated objects floating in our high atmosphere as well, and there isn't a guarantee of burning up just by virtue of being smaller..
Jesus, Lannamann. There's a 1-in-19-trillion chance that a piece of this will hit you and you're freaked out? There's a far larger chance that a rabid tree shrew is crawling its way up your lower intestine THIS VERY MINUTE to eat its way into your pancreas. Especially since you wore your old underwear today.