The military timed its shootdown attempt so that resulting debris would tumble into the atmosphere and not interfere with other satellites , said Christina Rocca , a U.S. diplomat and expert on disarmament . NEW : China asks U.S. to provide information so ` ` countries can take precautions '' Pentagon : Most debris will burn up on re - entry within two days . The remaining debris should re - enter the atmosphere within 40 days . We wo n't know for certain for 24 hours whether the tank was hit .
NEW : China asks U.S. to provide information so ` ` countries can take precautions '' Pentagon : Most debris will burn up on re - entry within two days . The remaining debris should re - enter the atmosphere within 40 days . We wo n't know for certain for 24 hours whether the tank was hit .