Category: Tiangong 1

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China’s Tiangong-1 space station burns up in Earth’s atmosphere above the Pacific Ocean

sudshr47 April 2, 2018

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China’s Tiangong-1 space station is officially no more.

According to multiple agencies tracking the space station’s movements, 34-foot-long spacecraft re-entered Earth’s atmosphere at 8:16 p.m. ET above the southern Pacific Ocean.

While a few of the charred bits of Tiangong-1 — which translates to Heavenly Palace — may have made it all the way to the ground, it’s still unclear exactly where they may have landed. In all likelihood, the bits of space debris wouldn’t have landed in a populated area.

UPDATE: #JFSCC confirmed #Tiangong1 reentered the atmosphere over the southern Pacific Ocean at ~5:16 p.m. (PST) April 1. For details see https://t.co/OzZXgaEX0W @US_Stratcom @usairforce @AFSpaceCC @30thSpaceWing @PeteAFB @SpaceTrackOrg pic.twitter.com/KVljDALqzi

— 18 SPCS (@18SPCS) April 2, 2018 Read more…

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China’s Tiangong-1 space station might be back on Earth in time for ‘The Walking Dead’

sudshr47 April 1, 2018

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The Tiangong-1 should complete its fiery journey back to Earth sometime on Sunday night.

The Chinese space station has been circling the planet in a gradually degrading orbit since it was decommissioned in late 2016. It is now expected to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere — and mostly burn up in the process — sometime before 12:00 a.m. ET.

In fact, the latest estimate as of Sunday morning — from noted astronomer Jonathan McDowell — points to a significantly earlier re-entry, sometime during the 6:00 p.m. ET hour.

Currently 8.5 hours till the reentry window starts. Tiangong-1 orbit 151 x 159 km. Just passed over Washington DC and now heading out over the Atlantic pic.twitter.com/zgoR2Fo7pL

— Jonathan McDowell (@planet4589) April 1, 2018 Read more…

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How to follow along as China’s derelict space station falls to Earth this weekend

sudshr47 March 29, 2018

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This weekend, a derelict Chinese space station will plummet to Earth.

While the station — named Tiangong-1 — will mostly burn up in the atmosphere when it falls to the planet, some relatively small pieces of that spacecraft may make it all the way to Earth’s surface.

However, we don’t know where those bits of orbital junk might land. Chances are, though, that it won’t be on top of your head.

In all likelihood, the bits of space debris won’t fall in any populated areas — the chance of being hit by a piece of space debris are less than 1 in 300 trillion — but we still don’t know exactly when and where Tiangong-1 will come down.  Read more…

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China’s Tiangong-1 space station could fall to Earth on Easter weekend

sudshr47 March 27, 2018

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China’s decommissioned Tiangong-1 space station is heading back to Earth. 

Hour by hour, Tiangong-1 — whose name translates to “Heavenly Palace” — gets closer and closer to re-entering Earth’s atmosphere, and mostly burning up in the process. 

Trackers have been following the space station’s descent over the course of a number of weeks, gathering radar images and coming up with estimates for when it’ll come down.  

The European Space Agency (ESA) is now predicting that the space station will fall to Earth sometime over Easter weekend, between March 31 and April 2. Read more…

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We may know when China’s space station will fall to Earth, but we still don’t know where

sudshr47 March 22, 2018

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China’s Tiangong-1 space station is falling to Earth.

According to the most recent estimates from the European Space Agency (ESA), Tiangong-1 — which translates to “Heavenly Palace” — should fall back through the atmosphere, mostly burning up in the process, between March 30 and April 3.

Trackers have been keeping a close eye on Tiangong-1’s whereabouts for a while now. 

Earlier in the month, the ESA estimated that the space station would come down sometime between March 29 and April 9, but they’ve since refined those estimates. Read more…

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China’s Tiangong-1 space station is falling to Earth, but it probably won’t crush you

sudshr47 March 7, 2018

China’s Tiangong-1 space station is hurtling through Earth’s atmosphere, on a death dive to end its 7-year journey in space. 
The station, which is a bit smaller than a bus, is expected to fall into Earth’s atmosphere sometime between March 29 a…

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