Will you buy extra collection insurance to protect from this? Will it rain Chinese counterfeits?

RogerB

From Sky and Telescope magazine:

"China's Tiangong 1 space station is staring down its final weeks with re-entry predicted sometime between March 24th and April 19th. Of late, the 8.5-ton spacecraft has been losing altitude at the rate of 6 kilometers a week from atmospheric drag. Although it's impossible to predict even an approximate landing site until hours before re-entry, Tiangong 1's orbital inclination makes anywhere between 43°N and 43°S fair game."

AUandAG

Such a dire warning......I mean, isn't that like half the earth? I do live in that half and now I won't be able to sleep until it's all over.

bob

RogerB

Somewhere, someone is selling satellite insurance.... Maybe the same guys "from Microsoft" who want to "fix" your computer, or the $2,000,000.00 'penny' on ebay?

northcoin

Interesting. Decades ago in law school I actually took a course in Space Law that went into some detail about the liabilities of falling space junk. Reportedly despite all of the debris out there, only one person has ever been hit and no one has been injured to date.

jdimmick

brings back memories of skylab

northcoin

@northcoin said:
Interesting. Decades ago in law school I actually took a course in Space Law that went into some detail about the liabilities of falling space junk. Reportedly despite all of the debris out there, only one person has ever been hit and no one has been injured to date.

OK, I found the textbook which was authored by my professor. Here is an excerpt from the chapter titled, "Liability and Space Activities":

Falling Boosters, Spacecraft, and Debris

 Contrary to the expectations of some scientists  that fragments and parts from space vehicles and boosters placed in orbit or sent beyond the atmosphere  will burn up in the atmosphere prior to reaching earth unless designed and fabricated for reentry, experience indicates that some fall back on earth as solid pieces of metal.  As the number of objects put into outer space increases, the probability of damage from falling debris correspondingly increases, even though as previously noted, the incidence of damage is likely to continue to be low. 

 In a footnote is referenced, "An analogy to falling particles from man-made objects are natural meteorites.  The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory indicates that approximately 5,000 meteorites of 2.2 pounds or more strike the earth every year.  

ricko

Well... since I am in the'potential' path, however unlikely, I will be watching just in case some random piece of space debris should land in my area. What a great thrill that would be.... In truth, I would rather find a meteorite, but a piece of the space station would suffice. Of course, this entire event will be watched by millions and no doubt plotted by the experts. Still, one can hope... Cheers, RickO

RogerB

A visual footprint can't be calculated until near the end, so check reliable news media. Of course, there's this bit of sensationalism and hype from "Fox News":

"Fears of catastrophe as runaway Chinese space station hurtles toward Earth."
[October 16th, 2017]

(Just for fun, if we take apart the Fox headline, there are only two factual pieces: 1) "Chinese space station" and "Earth." As for the other parts: There's no particular "fear;" certainly no "catastrophe" except the very remote possibility of a piece landing on someone or some building; it's not "runaway" - the Chinese don't have de-orbit control but the actual orbit is well known; it isn't "hurtling toward" anything -- it's been in orbit around Earth for years and will fall to earth due to atmospheric drag. In the dynamic sense, the Earth has also been in orbit around the satellite.)

[One final note - a small meteorite or spacecraft debris landing is not a fiery, glowing, hissing mass that digs a deep crater. Only the object's surface gets very hot and much of that energy is dissipated as material ablates during re-entry. What lands will be warm and it's velocity will be close to the object's terminal velocity in air. However, much depends on mass....so watch your coin collection!]

AUandAG

@RogerB, that was a direct quote from The Sun newspaper in the UK. Sheppard Smith, on Fox News was quoting The Sun. Full article here: https://www.thesun.co.uk/tech/4676492/chinas-runaway-tiangong-1-space-station-will-crash-to-earth-within-months-harvard-university-astrophysicist-warns/
bob

RogerB

Fox News published it as-is. No excuse for running inaccurate and inflammatory headlines. Tabloids are not reliable news sources. Enjoy the "hurtling catastrophe."

ShadyDave

@RogerB said:
so check reliable news media.

I think I have a better chance of getting hit by the space debris than finding "reliable news media" theses days...

WillieBoyd2

WillieBoyd2

It's coming this weekend!

April first. No fooling.

bronco2078

The main character of the show dead like me is killed by a toilet seat that fell from space. Which is proof how deadly these things can be. Its on Hulu by the way and its a pretty good show check it out

AUandAG

Hey, I'm not far from Oregon, projected touchdown site. Well, maybe 1,500 miles isn't close but I do have my butterfly net all ready......just might get lucky!

bob

messydesk

@AUandAG said:
Such a dire warning......I mean, isn't that like half the earth? I do live in that half and now I won't be able to sleep until it's all over.

68%. Sleep well.

RogerB

BBC: "China's defunct space lab, Tiangong-1, should fall to Earth over the weekend."

Just in time for opening of baseball season! Time to play catch!

BStrauss3

See here: http://blogs.esa.int/rocketscience/2018/03/26/tiangong-1-frequently-asked-questions-2/

and http://www.satflare.com/track.asp?q=37820#TOP

Stay away from the British tabloids - if you read them, Elvis is coming back riding the Heavenly Palace flywheel into a Little Old Lady's lounge in Brighton.