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Tiangong-1 to Crash to Earth Between Now and April 2018

posted by martyb on Wednesday October 18 2017, @03:06PM   Printer-friendly
from the down-to-earth-warning dept.

takyon writes:

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/oct/13/tiangong-1-chinese-space-station-will-crash-to-earth-within-months

An 8.5-tonne Chinese space station has accelerated its out-of-control descent towards Earth and is expected to crash to the surface within a few months.

The Tiangong-1 or "Heavenly Palace" lab was launched in 2011 and described as a "potent political symbol" of China, part of an ambitious scientific push to turn China into a space superpower. It was used for both manned and unmanned missions and visited by China's first female astronaut, Liu Yang, in 2012.

But in 2016, after months of speculation, Chinese officials confirmed they had lost control of the space station and it would crash to Earth in 2017 or 2018. China's space agency has since notified the UN that it expects Tiangong-1 to come down between October 2017 and April 2018.

[...] Although much of the craft is expected to burn up in the atmosphere, McDowell says some parts might still weigh up to 100kg when they crash into the Earth's surface.

Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 3, Disagree) by c0lo on Wednesday October 18 2017, @03:49PM (7 children)

    by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday October 18 2017, @03:49PM (#583983) Journal

    but this is what you get when you settle for that cheap Chinese knockoff stuff.

    What? A first experimental space station that had a planned life of 2 years, and lasted as long as the first American space station [wikipedia.org]?

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  • (Score: 5, Touché) by technoid_ on Wednesday October 18 2017, @03:57PM (5 children)

    by technoid_ (6593) on Wednesday October 18 2017, @03:57PM (#583989)

    Considering the technology advances between 1973 and 2011, I don't find the comparison to really reflect that well on the Tiangong-1.

    So yeah, cheap Chinese knockoff stuff.

    • (Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 18 2017, @04:18PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 18 2017, @04:18PM (#583994)

      Well it did last longer, and technology advances for space hardware are not freely shared, so I can't endorse your silly Chinese knock-off theory. The US poached almost all the top minds back in the day, so again the comparison falls kinda flat.

      Sounds like simple bigotry to me.

      • (Score: 5, Informative) by c0lo on Wednesday October 18 2017, @06:03PM

        by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday October 18 2017, @06:03PM (#584029) Journal

        so I can't endorse your silly Chinese knock-off theory.

        On the contrary, you can endorse the opposite, given the Chinese exclusion policy of NASA [wikipedia.org]

        None of the funds made available by this Act may be used for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) or the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) to develop, design, plan, promulgate, implement, or execute a bilateral policy, program, order, or contract of any kind to participate, collaborate, or coordinate bilaterally in any way with China
                — Public Law 112-55, SEC. 539

        The result? Increased cooperation between China, Russia and Europe.

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    • (Score: 5, Touché) by pe1rxq on Wednesday October 18 2017, @05:28PM (2 children)

      by pe1rxq (844) on Wednesday October 18 2017, @05:28PM (#584018) Homepage

      In 1973 the US was capable of manned spaceflight.
      When Tiangong-1 launched in september 2011 the US had advanced to not being capable of launching a manned flight.........

      • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 19 2017, @12:03AM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 19 2017, @12:03AM (#584260)

        Because having humans in space is.... so kewl? Sorry remind me why we spend $1B per ounce of human material per day to have them gaze at us from a capsule that if they ever leave they'll die in less than a second?

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 19 2017, @01:34AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 19 2017, @01:34AM (#584319)

          Because we're stuck on a rock, and if we don't leave, we die (eventually).

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 18 2017, @04:20PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 18 2017, @04:20PM (#583995)

    You mean the PLANNED for an uncontrolled re-entry???