Massive piece of space debris to collide with Earth

A large chunk of space debris, officially designated WT1190F but nicknamed WTF, is set to hit Earth on Nov 13.

It is expected to fall in the Indian Ocean about 40 miles off the southern tip of Sri Lanka, British newspaper The Independent reports citing an article of science journal Nature. 
 
Astronomers are preparing to observe the impact of the collision, according to Nature.
 
It also said the debris may be from the Apollo space missions.
 
There is less to worry as The Independent says much of the hollow object, which may be a spent rocket stage or panelling shed by a recent Moon mission, should burn up in the atmosphere.
 
Space debris - fragments from fuel tank explosions or other space mishaps - is a more overt threat to operational satellites and spaceships, however.
 
Half a million pieces of junk about the size of marbles, along with 20,000 pieces larger than a ball, are whipping around Earth at speeds 10 times faster than a bullet in what computer-generated images show is a "veil" of dense clutter.
 
A crash between Russian and US satellites in 2009 and a Chinese anti-satellite missile test in 2007 added more than 5,000 pieces of debris alone, according to NASA.
 
A generally accepted rule is that new systems must be able to re-enter the atmosphere on their own for burn-up within 25 years of launch. But that costs money and there is no guarantee the groups planning to send thousands of new satellites into space will do so.