Vandenberg Tracking Falling Satellite

Officials reported Friday that people in San Diego will get a glimpse of a falling satellite as it returns to the atmosphere.

The research satellite, which weighs nearly six tons, is on its way back to earth, the hard way, via an uncontrolled re-entry and will pass over the United States in the evening, officials said.

San Diegans will be the first in the country to see the satellite at around 7:45 p.m.

After passing the city, it will move to Colorado, Minnesota, and New York.

NBCSanDiego was told that the average person will be able to see a fire ball and hear the satellite racing because it may only be as high as 50 miles up.

Earlier, experts at the Vandenberg Air Force Base and NASA predicted that the now defunct Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite, or UARS, would land Friday.

Along with them were officials at the Aerospace Corporation, who predicted that re-entry would occur over the Pacific early Friday afternoon, give or take 14 hours.

Most of the satellite is expected to burn up in the atmosphere, but an estimated 26 pieces, that's about 1,200 pounds, could survive and hit the earth.

Since nearly three-quarters of the world is covered with water, NASA is anticipating a splashdown rather than a landing.

NASA puts the chances at 1 in 3,200 that someone, somewhere will be hit.

The 20-year-old Upper Research Atmosphere Satellite will be the biggest NASA spacecraft to fall uncontrolled from the sky in 32 years.

In 1979 Skylab, America's first space station, fell to Earth sending pieces crashing onto Australia and into the ocean.

Three more satellites are poised to make uncontrolled entries into our atmosphere, with the next free fall expected in April of 2014.