A Chinese space station will crash into Earth in a matter of months - and it could kill anyone who is standing beneath.


The 8.5-ton Tiangong-1, or “Heavenly Palace”, satellite is now out of control and is doomed to plunge into the atmosphere, a top academic has warned.

“I expect it will come down a few months from now – late 2017 or early 2018,” Jonathan McDowell, a Harvard University astrophysicist, told The Guardian.

He previously warned that there was no way of telling exactly where the space station was going to plunge to Earth.


“You really can’t steer these things,” he said last year.

“Even a couple of days before it re-enters we probably won’t know better than six or seven hours, plus or minus, when it’s going to come down."

The station will reduce significantly in size as the Earth's atmosphere burns it up.

However, large chunks of metal could still fall to Earth and injure or kill anyone standing the impact site.

A spokesperson for China's space agency said: "Based on our calculation and analysis, most parts of the space lab will burn up during falling."

But a huge clump of metal could still rain down on unwitting victims.

He added: "There will be lumps of about 100 [kilograms] or so, still enough to give you a nasty wallop if it hit you.

As well as building a space station, it intends to eventually put one of its citizens on the surface of the moon.

In April, China vowed to send a craft to orbit Mars, land and deploy a rover to explore the surface by 2020.

Film at 11... 😟

This sounds like a great opportunity. We should convince the Chinese that US should be allowed to blow it up now...to reduce the risk. It's not generally acceptable to live test anti satellite weapons....but we're gonna need 'em someday and it'd be nice to know they work

Fine idea.. 👍

How about putting a bunch of "Made in China" stickers on a missile and lobbing it into NK when it's re-entering?

A 220+lb block of steel, falling from space, is going to do a bit more than give you a nasty wallop.
Good chance it would kill anyone in a 30-50ft diameter, if it hit, say, in a Walmart parking lot at lunch time....
#-o

Do I get to sue China if I get hit..?? 😕

I believe the correct term is chop suey the Chinese8-[

I think some American invented chop suey... 😟

That's chop-sockey...

Number one super guy?

Blow it up? You don't seem to understand the amount of debris and crap we already have to track since the last time someone blew up a satellite!

#-o

I heard that if you drop a .22 cal bullet from the height of the space station by the time it got to the ground it would penetrate 6” of steel plate.






I think I read that here......

I do believe that live on in infamy.

i think it was more like all assault rifles can penetrate 10" of steel... distance doesn't matter... 😟

I KNOW WHY IT IS CRASHING....

BECAUSE ??

75% OF THE CHIREE SPACE STATION PARTS WERE MADE BY
"HARBOR FREIGHT"

YES!

Is it wrong to hope it hits a democrat's house...or even better Hillary's house...while she is home, of course?

Maybe better yet, the house of one of the American-Nazi leaders....

I will head you all off and say that you hope it hits me. Thanks!

Be careful what you wish for Hank, I mean Vance.

A space station launched by China – which it reportedly lost track of – is expected plummet to Earth on or near April Fool’s Day.



The Tiangong-1 stopped responding to China’s commands 2016, according to Space.com. Scientists have since anticipated the space station returning to Earth as a manmade meteorite, but are unsure where it will land.

In recent months, scientists have had a better approximation of where the station may land. According to the Washington Post, they’ve warned that Spain, Portugal, France and Greece may see the 19,000-pound meteorite plummet within their borders.

Scientists say the Tiangong-1 is currently spinning around Earth at 17,500 mph, which amounts to a trip around the planet every 90 minutes. As the station descends closer to Earth and gains momentum, the thicker air will cause friction to surround the craft in superheated plasma, the Post reported.

Depending on the time of day and location, the nonprofit research firm Aerospace says, the returning station may be visible for “up to a minute or more.”

There is reportedly a slight chance the falling debris will hit somebody.

Film at 11... 😟

Latest estimate is sometime late tonight, early tomorrow morning. Someone on another board suggested that it may create a sonic boom that would blow out windows over a large area. I have no idea if that is true or not.

David (dpnewell)