Moscow: Russia's space agency predicts that the fragments of a failed Russian space probe's could fall into the Indian Ocean, far away from any populated areas.
Roscosmos said today that the Phobos-Ground's debris could fall between Saturday and Monday anywhere along a broad swath between 51.4 degrees north to 51.4 degrees south.
That includes the bulk of the land surface, but spares most of Russia's territory along with Scandinavia and a large part of Canada.
The agency said the mid-point in the three day window at 1448 IST Sunday when fragments could come crashing down correspond to a place in the Indian Ocean, about 1,700 kilometres west of Jakarta.
Roscomos said, however, that the forecast will be clarified as the probe's orbit draws closer to Earth.
PTI
First Published: Thursday, January 12, 2012, 08:59