Tiangong - 1 Chinese Space station expected to come down near Corsica

[Phil Perry]

Tiangong-1 Chinese Space Station Could Fall In Corsica, France – How Dangerous Would That Be?

[nomadpete]

Just like spacelab. It's about time Simsmetal sent up a scrap collection skip bin.

 

 

[Phil Perry]

OK,. . .let's work out the fuel burn / Cost/ to slow the rubbish to a sensible re-entry velocity,. . .so that all that lovely scrap doesn't get frictionationally cremated,. . .then weigh the argument against what a good Scrap dealer could get for the scrap. . . .after having to collect it from the middle of some ocean. . . .etc. . . .

 

 

[Marty_d]

If you could control the speed and angle of re-entry, then you don't need to collect it from the ocean. Just have your scrap yard in the middle of a big desert somewhere and guide the rubbish straight into it.

 

 

[Admin]

They say it could even come down over Melbourne...they will not know until the day before

 

 

[Methusala]

Hurray!!! Another triumph of technology over good sense. Glad I'm 67 ...not 17.

 

 

[Marty_d]

Hurray!!! Another triumph of technology over good sense. Glad I'm 67 ...not 17.

I dunno. I'd quite like to be 17 again... knowing what I know now...

[nomadpete]

But the smelting fumes wouldn't be a problem in space. I'm pretty sure those exotic metals would be worth more than cast iron or coke cans. And you could use solar power to melt it all down.

 

I'm writing a letter to Elon right away.

 

 

[SDQDI]

Using solar power is silly, why not design a capsule that uses the heat of reentry to smelt it all on the way back? Done and dusted!

 

 

[nomadpete]

Using solar power is silly, why not design a capsule that uses the heat of reentry to smelt it all on the way back? Done and dusted!

Isn't that what is happening anyway?

 

 

[SDQDI]

I thought it was just melted away to nothing? I thought a nice adjustable heat protecting capsule could be designed to let the stuff melt but then shield it so it wasn't all burnt up?

 

It could then land with a nice load of ingots ready for their next life.

 

 

[Guest Guest]

Hopefully it lands in Bundooraa !

 

 

[Birdseye]

They say it could even come down over Melbourne...they will not know until the day before

About the only thing anyone can say with any degree of certainty is that it should come down somewhere between 43N and 43S. So it could join MH407.

 

 

[Birdseye]

According to one tracking site latest on the demise is that the final decay may at occur 0530Z on the 3rd April +- 80 hours

 

The reentry may occur on any of the paths in this diagram:

 

 

TIANGONG 1 - NORAD 37820 - 3D Online Satellite Tracking

 

 

[Old Koreelah]

It astounds me that humans spends squillions getting these complex, expensive objects up there, but happily accept their short useful life, and deliberately send them back to earth.

 

Why not gather up all that valuable scrap metal and reuse it to build new structures in orbit?

 

 

[Phil Perry]

It astounds me that humans spends squillions getting these complex, expensive objects up there, but happily accept their short useful life, and deliberately send them back to earth.Why not gather up all that valuable scrap metal and reuse it to build new structures in orbit?

The Chinese have admitted that they have no control over the unit. ( Flat batteries,. . . exhausted fuel for attitude thrusters ? ) This means that it is probably ( Possibly ) 'Tumbling' and not in a semi static position. This means that any attempted orbital interface with it by another spacecraft would be suicidal, unless it was of such a size as to be 'Grabbed' as with a robot arm on a large 'Shuttle' type vehicle to stabilize it. . . . .As far as I am aware, the Chinese do not have a shuttle type vehicle to accomplish that. I can't recall the original weight quoted by the Chinese, was it 10 Tonnes ? ? ? that's a bloody big lump to mess around with. . . .it obviously isn't worth the effort to recover it so they'll just allow it to fall wherever it falls. . . . .This we shall know in due course. . . .let us fervently hope that what's left of it doesn't do any damage to persons unknown in that rather large band of possible impact. . . .

 

 

[Admin]

They say that of the 8.5 tonne that it is, only about 100kg of it will not burn up on re-entry leaving that 100kg of pieces to hit the ground

 

 

[Phil Perry]

When Spacelab hit in Western Australia,. . .it was determined that some of the debris was travelling at 5,000 Km/H . . . and that one large piece 'Bounced' and continued on for another 100 Km. . . .100 Kg at that velocity could do some damage I would have thought. . . .lets hope it hits in the sea somewhere. . . . . . .

 

 

[SDQDI]

But I guess the 100kgs wouldnt all be in one lump? But still haveing said that a half a kilo lump would still do some damage at that speed.

 

 

[Birdseye]

But I guess the 100kgs wouldnt all be in one lump? But still haveing said that a half a kilo lump would still do some damage at that speed.

A 7.62 bullet only weighs 9 or 10 grams and has a velocity near half of that speed. The risk management is based solely on the (im) probability of material landing in an occupied space.

 

 

[Methusala]

When Spacelab hit in Western Australia,. . .it was determined that some of the debris was travelling at 5,000 Km/H . . . and that one large piece 'Bounced' and continued on for another 100 Km. . . .100 Kg at that velocity could do some damage I would have thought. . . .lets hope it hits in the sea somewher

Could land on our National Parliament, tsk, tsk!

 

 

[Old Koreelah]

The Chinese have admitted that they have no control over the unit. ( Flat batteries,. . . exhausted fuel for attitude thrusters ? ) This means that it is probably ( Possibly ) 'Tumbling' and not in a semi static position. This means that any attempted orbital interface with it by another spacecraft would be suicidal, unless it was of such a size as to be 'Grabbed' as with a robot arm on a large 'Shuttle' type vehicle to stabilize it. . . . .As far as I am aware, the Chinese do not have a shuttle type vehicle to accomplish that. I can't recall the original weight quoted by the Chinese, was it 10 Tonnes ? ? ? that's a bloody big lump to mess around with. . . .it obviously isn't worth the effort to recover it so they'll just allow it to fall wherever it falls. . . . .This we shall know in due course. . . .let us fervently hope that what's left of it doesn't do any damage to persons unknown in that rather large band of possible impact. . . .

Agreed, Phil. My comment is about space junk in general. Lots of research is being done on snagging or shooting down space junk with lasers;it costs so much to get that material up there- why not keep it there as a valuable future resource.

 

 

[Old Koreelah]

But I guess the 100kgs wouldnt all be in one lump? But still haveing said that a half a kilo lump would still do some damage at that speed.

That's the dilemma of blowing up any asteroid that threatens our planet: a big one might miss, but if we smash it into little bits, we're more likely to hit by lots of smaller bits.

[bexrbetter]

There's only been one recorded hit on a human from space debris in all of history, a woman who ended up with a huge black bruise on her leg.

 

My Mum got hit by the nut of a slasher blade bolt when the blade came off (and whizzed past her head) and left a huge black bruise on her leg, and I have been hit in the eye by debris from a whipper snipper.

 

So I am infinitely more concerned about someone mowing near me than I am about a satellite re-entry.

 

 

[spacesailor]

.

 

"Could land on our National Parliament, tsk, tsk!"

 

Do we send the Chinese a bill for damage, or a medal.

 

" Lots of research is being done on snagging or shooting down space junk with lasers;"

 

Or send a big powerful magnate up, It should grow with all the Attachment's adorning it.

 

spacesailor