Comments on: Tiangong-1 reentry window narrowed to 24 hours centered on April 1st

By: Phill O

Phill O — Thu, 29 Mar 2018 14:46:46 +0000

Can you imagine the uproar if NASA was so delinquent in foresight, not to have re-entry control?

By: Robert Zimmerman

Robert Zimmerman — Thu, 29 Mar 2018 06:53:25 +0000

In reply to Chaim Arnstein. Chaim Arnstein: It appears so, but so is most of the most populous areas of the northern hemisphere. It must be noted that 1. most of that northern yellow band is still ocean. 2. There is an equal chance Tiangong-1 will fall in the yellow southern band, which is almost all ocean. 3. The spacecraft has a very good chance of crashing in the middle green regions, though less so than the yellow areas. 4. (and most important), not much debris from this module will likely reach the ground.

By: Chaim Arnstein

Chaim Arnstein — Thu, 29 Mar 2018 06:06:23 +0000

Is Israel in the yellow band where the space station will most likely fall?

By: Thomas Tolan

Thomas Tolan — Wed, 28 Mar 2018 20:36:44 +0000

One would think, with the reentry window being only 24 hours long, that a ground track showing the 16 1/2 orbits the Tiangong1 station will be on during those 24 hours. It is no longer possible that any location between 42.7 degrees north and south can be on the path of the station when it falls, and this would improve the probability of seeing the fireball as it re-enters.