There will be one less space junk hovering above Earth come late September or early October, this according to U.S. space agency National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as it revealed on Thursday the impending return of a research satellite that lost its steam in 2005.

NASA identified the wayward space object as the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS), which was launched on 1991 and weighs approximately six tonnes, as it clarified that the out-of-control satellite is projected not to cause any damages to humans or properties.

Scientists have yet to map the likely 'landing spot' of the UARS though theoretically it could hit locations from south Alaska to the northern parts of South America, with its pieces set to pelt Earth's six continents.

The odds of the falling debris hitting a human being has been set by NASA at one in every 3200, a ratio that the space agency said is based on the estimated seven billion people currently inhabiting the Earth.

Once UARS enters Earth's atmosphere, it will burn up and splinter into pieces, according to NASA, which added that only 1200 pounds of the falling object will survive the scorching entry and most of the debris should hit the planet's watery areas.

NASA noted that Earth's surface is mostly covered by seas and oceans, which all the more keep humans from possible harm that the plunging satellite could bring.

"Things have been re-entering ever since the dawn of the Space Age, to date nobody has been injured by anything that's re-entered," NASA orbital debris chief Gene Stansbery told The Associated Press.

Nonetheless, Stansbery assured that NASA will not leave anything to chance as he revealed that the space agency plans to put up a weekly monitoring of the falling UARS, which then will shift to daily tracking on the final days of its approach.

As earlier mentioned, Stansbery confirmed that drop points of UARS debris have yet to be identified by NASA experts as their trajectory will be largely determined by their movement above the Earth's atmosphere and possible effects of other variables such as solar storm activities.

He added that no known lethal materials are carried by UARS but NASA has advised that enthusiasts and people in general should avoid getting near anywhere on identified landing sites of the satellite debris.

Australia has been a recipient of pieces from objects returning to Earth when Skylab fell from orbit in 1979 and its parts were scattered over areas near the Indian Ocean and the country's western part.