There is a possibility that some parts of the machine reach the planet’s surface.
The European space Agency (ESA) said that the unburned parts of the Chinese spacecraft Tiangong-1 can fall on the territory of the EU. The Agency plans to monitor the descent of the apparatus.
“Because of the geometry of the orbit of the station, we can already exclude the possibility that any fragments [Tiangong-1] will fall over any area North of 43 degrees North latitude or South of 43 degrees South latitude,” — said head of monitoring space debris ESA’s Holger Krag.
South of 43 degrees North latitude are, in particular, European countries such as Spain, Portugal, Italy, Bulgaria and Greece. “This means that the ship will fall anywhere between the latitudes of, for example, in several European countries,” says the scientist.
In an official statement, ESA notes that the date, time and trajectories of falling fragments of the Tiangong-1 can be predicted “only with great uncertainty.” It is noted that there is a possibility that some parts of the machine reach the planet’s surface.
Tiangong-1 can reach a length of 12 meters and a diameter of 3.3 meters. Starting weight was 8506 pounds. According to ESA, China lost contact with the Tiangong-1 in 2016. Currently the ship is in orbit with a height of about 300 kilometers. It will decline from January to March 2018, when the planned entry of Tiangong-1 in the dense layers of the atmosphere.
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