Posted on 08/06/2017 10:35:13 AM PDT by BenLurkin
Tiangong-1, which has been orbiting Earth since September 2011, ceased functioning on March 16, 2016. To date, the spacecraft has maintained its structural integrity.
The space lab's operational orbit is under constant and close surveillance by China. Its current average altitude is 217 miles (349 kilometers), but its orbit is decaying at a daily rate of approximately 525 feet (160 meters), according to the U.N. notification.
...
The lab's re-entry is expected between October 2017 and April 2018, according to the U.N. The Aug. 2 notice from the Aerospace Corporation pegged re-entry as occuring in January 2018, with a margin of two months on either side. According to the calculations and analysis that have been carried out, most of Tiangong-1's structural components will be burned up during the craft's re-entry into Earth's atmosphere.
...
According to the Aerospace Corporation, based on Tiangong-1's inclination, the lab will re-enter somewhere between 43 degrees north and 43 degrees south latitudes. As for leftovers, "it is highly unlikely that debris from this reentry will strike any person or significantly damage any property," Aerospace Corporation representatives wrote in a Tiangong-1 re-entry FAQ.
They added: "Potentially, there may be a highly toxic and corrosive substance called hydrazine on board the spacecraft that could survive re-entry. For your safety, do not touch any debris you may find on the ground nor inhale vapors it may emit."
The Aerospace Corporation will perform a person and property risk calculation for the Tiangong-1 re-entry a few weeks prior to the event.
(Excerpt) Read more at space.com ...
Satellite Roulette.
Is that with or without AGW? It does matter. Actually, the Sun's expanding, or not expanding the atmosphere is what matters.
The good news, for me, is that I'm over a degree (of latitude) outside the projected fall coordinates.
Hydrazine? Yikes!
and it doesn’t have thrusters to put it reliably into the Pacific?
Not a good thing to have an uncontrolled reentry of a large satellite
If it still has some hydrazine on board, you would think they could use some of it in some thrusters or something to direct it into a more controlled crash path where it’s less likely to fall on something important.
I thought hydrazine was rocket fuel. Wouldn’t that burn up on the way down?
Not it it’s contained in a tank buried inside a structural member. If the station is dead, that stuff is frozen-solid, not in a cryogenic liquid form.
Anyone else recall when Skylab fell from orbit and burned up entering the atmosphere? Though I don’t think it all burned up and some actually crashed.
Regarding Skylab, most of what didn’t burn up fell into the ocean south of Australia, but a few big chunks landed in the outback; the Aussies did send us a bill for picking it up.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.