Thread: China's space station 'out of control' and on crash course to Earth

China’s first space station will meet a fiery end next year when the 8.5-tonne module comes crashing down to Earth, amid concerns authorities have lost control of the craft.


The Tiangong-1 space station was launched in September 2011 and currently orbits Earth at an altitude of 230 miles (370km).



But in July, amateur astronomers suggested China had “lost control” of the satellite, after Chinese media reported the country’s space agency had struggled to get in contact with it.


Officials have now confirmed that after four and a half years in orbit, Tiangong-1 (meaning Heavenly Palace) is expected to plummet to Earth in late 2017.
Speaking at a satellite launch for the space station’s successor in the Gobi Desert in northern China, officials from China’s manned space programme said the craft had ended its service in March this year having “comprehensively fulfilled its historical mission”.



Wu Ping, deputy director of the manned space engineering office said: “Based on our calculation and analysis, most parts of the space lab will burn up during falling.”


According to Space.com the less than precise landing time indicates the operators had lost control of the unit, as if they were still able to communicate with it, they could steer it to “a guided re-entry over an empty stretch of ocean at a specified time”.


Like other lost satellites, it’s likely that the freefalling station will burn up on its way back into Earth and come back down in smaller chunks of molten metal rather than with a big crash.


However, some denser engine parts are unlikely to burn up completely and could potentially cause problems on the ground.


Harvard astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell told the Guardian the announcement suggested the doomed craft would now re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere naturally, making it near impossible to predict where any debris will fall.



“You really can’t steer these things,” he said. “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. Not knowing when it’s going to come down translates as not knowing where it’s going to come down.”


“There will be lumps of about 100kg or so, still enough to give you a nasty wallop if it hit you,” he added.


He said that even small changes in atmospheric conditions would be enough to nudge the craft “from one continent to the next”.



But according to Chinese news agency Xinhua, Ms Wu said the space station’s re-entry was “unlikely to affect aviation activities or cause damage to the ground”.
“China has always highly valued the management of space debris, conducting research and tests on space debris mitigation and cleaning,” Wu said.



China's space station 'out of control' and on crash course to Earth | The Independent

So another Skylab then.

Originally Posted by bsnub

“There will be lumps of about 100kg or so, still enough to give you a nasty wallop if it hit you,” he added.

Enough to give someone a nasty headache.

wonder if they will blow it up with a laser weapon

But according to Chinese news agency Xinhua, Ms Wu said the space station’s re-entry was “unlikely to affect aviation activities or cause damage to the ground”.
“China has always highly valued the management of space debris, conducting research and tests on space debris mitigation and cleaning,” Wu said.

Righto, then.

Originally Posted by bsnub

“China has always highly valued the management of space debris, conducting research and tests on space debris mitigation and cleaning,”

It is true. Ever since they blew up one of their satellites in a weapons test and produced a huge amount of space debris. They did learn from their mistake.

Meanwhile older US Air Force spy sats that have not been effectively safed at the end of their life cycle keep blowing up and continue producing debris.

Note to self

1 Oil metal Detectorist
2 Park rellies in Sino facing open spaces
3 Renew Major Tom Insurance

Note to self, wear hard hat, with tin foil lining.

when a rather large orbiting object becomes obsolete , Y not "punch it bishop" into nakon nowhere with a huge dunny flush ?

ok thats littering.

Originally Posted by shaggersback

when a rather large orbiting object becomes obsolete , Y not "punch it bishop" into nakon nowhere with a huge dunny flush ?

ok thats littering.

Not sure what you mean, besides making some kind of joke.

Ideally if you still have control you drop it into the sea. The wide empty south pacific is popular for that purpose.

The geostationary COM sats that give you TV through a satellite dish are moved upwards a little. They are so far out at 36,000km that they won't reenter. No air up there.

Low flying satellites or space stations, altitude up to ~2000km, will eventually reenter because there is still some little atmosphere to brake them. At 400km like the ISS and Tiangong-1 this happens quite fast. A year or two and they are down unless they are boosted upward to keep them in orbit.

Rules to avoid littering are that second stages and satellites should deorbit passively in ~25 years or actively into the south pacific if they are able to do that after placing the satellite.

One can only hope that it will be a "return to sender" delivery.

Reading a headline next year sounding like this:

"Heavenly Palace falls on to the Gate of Heavenly Peace"

would sure catch a giggle




*Tiananmen Square is a large city square in the centre of Beijing, China, named after the Tiananmen ("Gate of Heavenly Peace")

I object to the Chinese calling their objects "heavenly" do they even believe it exists?

Originally Posted by OhOh

I object to the Chinese calling their objects "heavenly" do they even believe it exists?

For sure they believe in heavenly, as they all watch American movies. It's the translation that might be out.

天堂

Tian Tong is approx 6000 years old the US is still an infant and it shows. where do you think all those esteemed ancestors reside, hell?

♩♪♫ Ground control to Major Wong ♬♫