All you need to know about the Chinese space station crashing back to Earth
China's first ever space station is set to drop out of orbit and crash into the Earth's atmosphere this weekend, but experts say not to worry about it.
Here's everything you need to know.
What
Tiangong-1, or "heavenly palace", which was first launched in September 2011, has a 10.4 metre-long body made up of two cylinders. At the time of its launch had a mass of about 8.5 tonnes, including fuel, according to the European Space Agency (ESA).
The station's mass is now expected to be "significantly" lower, comparable with other end-of-life satellites, of which ESA said between three and four uncontrollably re-enter the Earth's atmosphere each month.
Much of the craft will burn up upon re-entry, but "some parts will survive the process and reach the surface of Earth".
ESA said:
The personal probability of being hit by a piece of debris from the Tiangong-1 is actually 10 million times smaller than the yearly chance of being hit by lightning.
In the history of spaceflight, no casualties due to falling space debris have ever been confirmed
A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson today said it is unlikely any large parts will reach the ground.
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When
ESA expects the out-of-control station to crash through the Earth's atmosphere between midday on Saturday 31 March and the early afternoon of Easter Sunday, 1 April, though it noted this is "highly variable".
Where
Re-entry is expected to take place between the latitudes of 43º north and 43º south, though ESA warned: "At no time will a precise time/location prediction from ESA be possible."
Here's a map of the potential re-entry zone:
(Source: ESA)
Why
A "controlled re-entry" was initially planned for when the spacecraft reached the end of its life, but in March 2016 the space station stopped functioning. ESA said the craft's ground teams lost control and it can no longer be commanded to fire its engines.
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