The 9.4-ton Chinese space station about the size of a school bus will probably smash through the Earth’s atmosphere late Sunday, experts said
The 9.4-ton Chinese space station about the size of a school bus now hurtling through space will probably smash through the Earth’s atmosphere late Sunday, experts said.
Aerospace Corp., which has been tracking the approach of unmanned Tiangong-1, said the space station also known as “Heavenly Place” should re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere Sunday shortly after 8 p.m. ET, give or take two hours.
The European Space Agency estimated re-entry would take place late Sunday or early Monday. The agency’s estimated point of re-entry includes most of the globe, including all but the northernmost sections of the U. S. Canada, Russia and Northern Europe are among areas that also appear to be in the clear.
Any debris that survives likely will hit water or ground within 20 minutes of the space station’s entry into the Earth’s atmosphere, Sean O’Keefe, a former NASA Administrator and university professor at Syracuse University, told USA TODAY.
Anyone who sees what could be debris from the Heavenly Palace should not touch it or inhale its fumes, Aerospace Corp.
