A decommissioned Chinese space station is expected to crash to Earth in the next few months, with scientists unsure of exactly where and when the impact will occur. The 8,500kg Tiangong-1 craft lost contact with the Chinese space agency in March 2016, and has been gradually losing altitude since then. While much of it will burn up on re-entry into the atmosphere, surviving debris is expected to fall to Earth. In a statement released by NASA, officials said that they were “confident that this event was not caused by any malfunction or malfunction.”
A decommissioned Chinese space station is expected to crash to Earth in the next few months, with scientists unsure of exactly where and when the impact will occur. The 8,500kg Tiangong-1 craft lost contact with the Chinese space agency in March 2016, and has been gradually losing altitude since then. While much of it will burn up on re-entry into the atmosphere, surviving debris is expected to fall to Earth. Scientists cannot predict the precise impact location, and say there is a 1 in 10,000 chance of it hitting a populated area.