(Image credit: The Aerospace Corporation)Īnd by the way: The law of finders-keepers doesn't apply to space junk. However, these flaming space-junk chunks will probably splash down in the ocean, which covers about 70 percent of the planet's surface.Īnd don't worry about death from above: The chances that a piece of Tiangong-1 will hit you are less than 1 in 1 trillion, according to an FAQ published by The Aerospace Corporation.īut if you do stumble across a piece of smoking space wreckage, don't pick it up or breathe in any fumes it may be emitting, the FAQ added: It might be made of, or carrying, toxic material.Īny pieces of Tiangong-1 that survive re-entry will likely fall to Earth along a long but narrow track, according to analyses by The Aerospace Corporation. Most of Tiangong-1 will break apart and burn up in Earth's atmosphere, but some of the space lab's hardier pieces will probably survive re-entry, experts have said. That's as specific as the experts can get at the moment. The graph at left shows population density. That dashboard is available here and by clicking the link in the tweet below:Ī map showing the area between 42.8 degrees north and 42.8 degrees south latitudes (in green), over which Tiangong-1 could re-enter. ![]() Meanwhile, the Aerospace Corp., an indepdent analysis company, has created a live dashboard of Tiangong-1 tracking data that you can use to get up-to-the-minute details on where the space station is in its orbit, where it will most likely fall, and when it will crash to Earth. You can also track Tiangong-1 on 's Satellite Tracker page here, powered by N2YO, and also see other spacecraft in orbit today. ![]() also has a widget available that lets you track Tiangong-1in orbit now. The websites and offer ways to find the best times to spot Tiangong-1 for your personal location. Tiangong-1 is visible to the unaided eye (while it's still in space, of course) and you can spot it if you know when and where to look. Both Shenzhou-9 and Shenzhou-10 had three crewmembers, and both missions lasted about two weeks. ![]() Two crewed missions to the space lab followed - Shenzhou-9 in June 2012 and Shenzhou-10 in June 2013. That was the focus of Tiangong-1's successful mission, after all the space lab was lofted primarily to test the docking and rendezvous technologies that China will need to build a bona fide space station in Earth orbit, which the nation plans to do by the early 2020s.Ĭhina's first-ever in-space docking occurred in early November 2011, when a robotic craft called Shenzhou-8 visited the newly launched Tiangong-1.
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