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

Accepted submission by takyon at 2017-10-17 21:26:14
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https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/oct/13/tiangong-1-chinese-space-station-will-crash-to-earth-within-months [theguardian.com]

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" [theguardian.com] of China, part of an ambitious scientific push to turn China into a space superpower [theguardian.com]. 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 [theguardian.com] 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.


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