No-fly zone, no fishing on Nov 13

by Manjula Fernando

Sri Lanka is expected to impose a fishing ban in the Southern waters and a no-fly zone over the southern sky in preparation for the fall of mysterious space object WT 1190F near its Southern coast on Friday (13).

The object, astronomers speculate is a hollow discarded piece from an early moon mission. It is expected to make landfall on sea 65 km to 100 km off Sri Lanka's Southern tip at around 11.48 a.m. local time.

Head of Colombo University's Physics Department, Dr. Chandana Jayaratne, opined that the piece of junk would pose no danger to Sri Lanka, since it will most probably be burned to cinders mid-air as it plunges through the earth's atmosphere.

The Arthur C Clark Institute's Senior Research Scientist, Saroj Gunasekera did not rule out the remote possibility of a small fragment falling on the land, if all the pieces fail to burn up. "It will either be burned up or fragmented as it enters the earth's atmosphere." Gunasekera said.

Chief Air Traffic Controller of theAirport and Aviation Services Sri Lanka Krishanthi Tissera said that based on the feedback from the Arthur C Clark Institute and the Disaster Management Centre, they will observe a no fly zone above the southern sea on Friday.

The Fisheries Department Director General M.C.L.Fernando said, the district fisheries offices in Hambantota, Matara and Galle have already been alerted and there will be a fishing ban imposed, depending on the scientific data available by Thursday.

An accurate read of its impact location is to be relayed by the European Space Agency and other space trackers two days ahead of the impact.