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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.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by frojack on Wednesday October 18 2017, @06:59PM
Yup, that's the plan. Make most of it burn up in the re-entry rather than having huge chunks landing in un-predictable places. That, and managing the fuel and orbit such that you can use remaining thrusters in order to dump falling stuff into the ocean. Its done this way already.
Just yesterday a Russian booster was dumped into the Indian ocean. [gulftoday.ae] People were already speculating it could be Tiangong-1 until the adults stepped in.
I know you meant it derisively, but that is indeed what the US and Russia endeavor to do with equipment that is going to be coming down anyway. Planning for this starts with design of boosters, and the reserve gas for thrusters on board, and continues right into orbit decay.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.