Tiangong-1 space station will fall to Earth in a few weeks
China’s Tiangong-1 space station, which no one has control over, will fall to Earth within weeks, The Aerospace Corporation reported. There are enormous difficulties in determining the exact date of the station’s entry into the atmosphere, so estimates suggest that it will most likely happen between late March and mid-April.
China lost control of the Tiangong-1 station last September. Currently, the station is descending toward Earth about six kilometersow for a week from its original orbit located at an altitude of 280 kilometersow. Experts say it is impossible to determine the exact date of the station’s re-entry into the atmosphere, so it is unclear where exactly the more than 8-ton module will fall. The discrepancies are considerable, as experts point out zarowno on Europe, as well as the US, Australia and New Zealand.
US government-subsidized The Aerospace Corporation predicts that Tiangong-1 will most likely re-enter the atmosphere in the first week of April. The European Space Agency says the module will fall between March 24 and April 19. In contrast, the predictions of the Satview website.org – dealing with satellite trackingoin mobinding about early April.
Where exactly will Tiangong-1 hit? This is not known exactly. But it will happen somewhere along the path of its orbital path, ktora extends from 43 degrees latitude poNorth to 43 degrees south latitude. This means that the threat will bypass Poland. Although most of the station’s path is over the oceans, there is little chance that a collision with the Earth’s surface will occur in densely populated areas such as: Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, China, Australia or the United States.
The Tiangong-1 module is quite large. It is about 10.5 meters long and has a diameter of about 3.5 meters. The mass of the station exceeds 8500 kilogramsow. Chinese authorities say most of the station will burn up in atmofser, but independent experts estimate that between 10 and as much as 40 percent of the. The station can survive entry into the atmosphere.
Photo. The Aerospace Corporation
Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist at Harvard University, admitted that it is impossible to predict exactly where the station’s remains will land, even just before it hits the planet itself. Even a slight change in conditionsoin the atmosphere can change the impact site by hundreds of kilometersow. According to him, parts of the station, whichore will fall to Earth may weigh as much as 100 kilogramsow.
– My guess is that several elementsoin the station will survive re-entry into the atmosphere, but where they will hit we will unfortunately find out after the fact – said in an interview with „The Guardian” McDowell.
The Tiangong-1 module was the fulfillment of Chinese dreams of conquering space. „Heavenly Palace”, as the Middle Kingdom referred to the 2011 launch, was to complete its mission in 2017. However, plans for its deorbit have changed.
