Space.com reports (Tor-friendly link) that amateur satellite tracker Thomas Dorman has created imagery that suggests China's Tiangong-1 space station "is in a slow roll." If that is the situation, its motion is not under control and its solar panels are not aimed at the Sun.
In March, official news agency Xinhua reported that "Tiangong-1 terminated its data service" and that
The flight orbit of the space lab, which will descend gradually in the coming months, is under continued and close monitoring, according to the [manned space engineering] office, which said the orbiter will burn up in the atmosphere eventually.
The official statement and Dorman's observations have led to speculation that the craft's descent may take place in an uncontrolled manner, increasing the possibility that debris will fall in populated areas.
Additional coverage:
(Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Thursday July 14 2016, @02:04PM
What goes up, must come down.
At least for all the space stations they've launched so far and put in relatively low orbit (all of them).
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"