Undergrads crash NASA satellite

Undergrads at the University of Colorado sent a NASA satellite to its fiery demise on August 30th. But don't worry. They are not in trouble. In fact, they were specifically tasked with the job of decommissioning the satellite—figuring out where and when to send it screaming through Earth's atmosphere so as to ensure that any leftover bits land someplace where they won't do much damage—as part of a class. An incredibly awesome class.

Maggie Koerth-Baker is the science editor at BoingBoing.net. She writes a monthly column for The New York Times Magazine and is the author of Before the Lights Go Out, a book about electricity, infrastructure, and the future of energy. You can find Maggie on Twitter and Facebook.

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Trotsky

Class of 1933: Ernst Stavro Blofeld
Class of 1950: Hugo Drax
Class of 1956: Max Zorin
Class of 1976: Eric E. Schmidt
michael holloway

Actually Barents Sea; and yes, I don’t get the joke.

???
querent

Damn, that’s cool. Hope they hit Walker Ranch, or whatever that water-head calls his homestead.
Teller

They chose Lincoln, Nebraska.
- ToddBradley
  
  Very funny, Teller. I wonder how many readers get the joke, though.
- CoquiELF
  
  But now that they are moving to the PAC 10, who are they going to choose for the next decommissioning? Berkeley?