Originally Posted by
DeathBlade/13.666
Ahem, tonnes, not tons. ie: it's the Metric ton, not the SAE ton. Thus 2,204.6 pounds not 2,000 pounds. But yes, the estimates are of the object prior to atmospheric entry an I assume the "initial estimate" I quoted was an initial estimate from NASA. Though they do seem to be willy-nilly interchanging tonne with ton, so I'm not sure which they actually mean, but I assume tonne because Scientists rarely ever use a SAE measurement.
As for the weight, there is no weight in Space, only mass. Weight is pressure of gravity pushing down upon a mass. Therefore it wouldn't have any weight until it reached our gravitational forces. So everything is all based upon estimates from a few measurements prior to entry, beyond that point it starts losing mass due to friction and heat.
Bookmarks