Last year in October, we reported you how China has lost control over its 7700 KG space station. The space station was out of control and was moving towards the earth for destruction. It was learnt that the space station named Tiangong 1 will enter the earth’s atmosphere between October 2017 and April 2018.
Now that we’ve entered in 2018, the threats have got intense. It has just been learnt that the space station is carrying a highly toxic material called hydrazine. The material is used for rocket fuel and an exposure to it is believed to cause symptoms like nausea and seizures, with long-term contact said to cause cancer.
When and Where will it Hit?
Earlier there were no estimates regarding the geographical location on earth where the space station will Hit. But now things have started being little more clear. After a continuous observation, it has been reported that there are high chances of it hitting the European latitude.
As per sun.co.uk, The European Space Agency is continuously tracking and issuing regular updates about Tiangong-1’s descent to earth, with the latest saying a crash is likely to happen very soon. They have stated-
“The current estimated window is 17 March to 21 April; this is highly variable.”
They further added-
“Re-entry will take place anywhere between 43ºN and 43ºS (e.g. Spain, France, Portugal, Greece, etc.).”
However, there is a good news. The incident is unlikely to harm anyone because there are more chances of space station getting burst while just entering the Earth’s environment. It has been reported that after bursting it will get scattered into small pieces that will hardly reach the land.
A statement from the non-profit Aerospace Corporation explains-
“When considering the worst-case location, the probability that a specific person will be struck by Tiangong-1 debris is about one million times smaller than the odds of winning the Powerball jackpot.”
It further added-
“In the history of spaceflight, no known person has ever been harmed by re-entering space debris.”
It also adds that in the history, only one person has been hit by the piece of space debris-
“Only one person has ever been recorded as being hit by a piece of space debris and, fortunately, she was not injured.”
What are your thoughts in it?
