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China Confirms Its Space Station Is Falling Back to Earth (popularmechanics.com)

Posted by msmash on from the it's-coming dept.

The Tiangong-1, China's prototype space station which was launched in September 2011, is no longer under the control of China. PopularMechanics reports: China's Tiangong-1 space station has been orbiting the planet for about 5 years now, but recently it was decommissioned and the Chinese astronauts returned to the surface. In a press conference, China announced that the space station would be falling back to earth at some point in late 2017. Normally, a decommissioned satellite or space station would be retired by forcing it to burn up in the atmosphere. This type of burn is controlled, and most satellite re-entries are scheduled to burn up over the ocean to avoid endangering people. However, it seems that China's space agency is not sure exactly when Tiangong-1 will re-enter the atmosphere, which implies that the station has been damaged somehow and China is no longer able to control it. This is important because it means Tiangong-1 won't be able to burn up in a controlled manner. All we know is it will burn up at some point in late 2017, but it is impossible to predict exactly when or where. This means that there is a chance debris from the falling spacecraft could strike a populated area.

6 of 275 comments (clear)

  1. Ground control to Major Tong. by JustNiz · · Score: 5, Funny

    Take your soy sauce pills and put your helmet on.

  2. Re:NASA, track this! by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Australia. I'm sure the kangaroos will be thrilled again. Skylab was an absolute blast last time.

  3. Re:This is my shocked face by Immerman · · Score: 4, Funny

    We assure you that it' a complete coincidence that it's on a collision course with Washington D.C. Our most humble apologies for any inconvenience...

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  4. Re:This is my shocked face by greenfruitsalad · · Score: 4, Funny

    it's not deliberate, it's out of warranty. like everything chinese that's broken.

  5. Poor George Lass.... by tekrat · · Score: 4, Funny

    Ellen Muth hit by a toilet seat... AGAIN!

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    If telephones are outlawed, then only outlaws will have telephones.
  6. Re:This is my shocked face by geoskd · · Score: 4, Funny

    We assure you that it' a complete coincidence that it's on a collision course with Washington D.C. Our most humble apologies for any inconvenience...

    Inconvenience hell, I would call that in incredible gesture of goodwill on the part of the Chinese.

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    I wish I had a good sig, but all the good ones are copyrighted