China's Tiangong-1 spacecraft breaks up on re-entry
April 2, 2018
The defunct Tiangong-1, which spent 7 years in space, has re-entered Earth's atmosphere and mostly broke up in the South Pacific, reports say. Contact was lost with the space lab two years ago after a technical fault.
Image: picture alliance/AP Photo/Fraunhofer Institute
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The abandoned Tiangong-1 spacecraft returned to earth early on Monday, and was mostly destroyed on re-entry over the South Pacific, the Chinese state news agency Xinhua said.
The uncontrolled earthbound plunge saw the space lab burn up above the vast ocean's central region at 8.15 a.m. local time (0015 UTC), China's Manned Space Engineering Office said.
The agency had said ahead of Monday's re-entry that the craft was expected to reach Earth's atmosphere southwest of the tiny British South Atlantic island of Ascension. It later revised its estimate to off the coast of Brazil.
Authorities said the short-life space station would be traveling at around 26,000 kilometers per hour (16,000 miles per hour), it would mostly disintegrate, and therefore it was unlikely any large pieces would reach the ground.
The 10.4-metre-long (34.1-foot) Tiangong-1, or "Heavenly Palace 1", was launched in 2011 to carry out docking and orbit experiments as part of China's ambitious space program, which aims to place a permanent station in orbit by 2023.
The space station completed six docking manoeuvers with Chinese Shenzhou spacecraft, and the first two Chinese taikonauts had also been on board, and even taught a class that was broadcast into schools across the country.
Mission extended then failure
The 8.5 ton spacecraft was originally planned to be decommissioned in 2013 but its mission was repeatedly extended.
Ground teams apparently lost contact with the space lab after it stopped working in March 2016. They were unable to remotely fire the engines in a maneuver necessary for a controlled re-entry.
The European Space Agency (ESA) said that before the technical fault, China had planned a "controlled re-entry" at the end of the Tiangong-1's operational life, which would have seen it burn up over the South Pacific.
Ahead of Monday's re-entry, ESA's expert Holger Krag said he expected roughly 1.5 to 3.5 tons of the space station to survive re-entry into the atmosphere. Only parts made of titanium and stainless steel would withstand the heat, he said.
According to Krag, it is "very hard to predict a precise location of re-entry," before estimating that the craft could come down somewhere between America's Midwest to New Zealand.
China from space
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Slight danger to humans
He said the danger to humans was small, with the likelihood of being hit by space debris lower than "being hit by lightning twice in the same year."
Chinese media meanwhile described the international media interest in the re-entry as overseas "envy" of China's space industry.
"It's normal for spacecraft to re-enter the atmosphere, yet Tiangong-1 received so much attention partly because some Western countries are trying to hype and sling mud at China's fast-growing aerospace industry," the tabloid Global Times said.
But on Chinese social media, commenters criticized the government's reluctance to own up to the situation.
"Can you or can't you report that you've lost control of the situation?" one person wrote on Weibo.
"It's not unusual that something this complicated would have a mishap."
China's goal to catch up with major space powers like the US and Russia has moved a step forward, with the nation flagging off its longest manned mission. Beijing aims to have a permanent space outpost by 2022.
Image: Picture-Alliance/dpa/H. H. Young
3,2,1… Shenzhou-11 in space
With two astronauts on board, the Shenzhou-11 - or the "Divine Vessel" - rocket blasted off into space early in the morning on Monday, October 17. It is the sixth time China has launched astronauts into space. The spacecraft will take two days to reach the Tiangong-2 space lab, which was launched last month.
Image: Picture-Alliance/dpa/H. H. Young
Experienced astronauts
The two-member crew, made up of astronauts Jing Haipeng and Chen Dong, will remain on board for 30 days. They will conduct research Projects, including those relating to repairing equipment in-orbit, aerospace medicine and atomic space clocks, reported the official Xinhua news agency. Jing, the mission commander, is on his third mission into orbit and will celebrate his 50th birthday in space.
Image: Picture-Alliance/dpa/H. H. Young
Tiangong is waiting
China launched the space lab Tiangong-2, or "Heavenly Palace-2," in September. The lab, which is nine meters long and weighs 13 tons, is in orbit 393 kilometers above Earth. It has two cabins - a hermetically sealed experiment chamber that also serves as the living quarters, and a resources store holding supplies such as solar panels, engines and batteries.
Image: picture alliance/dpa/A. Xin
An important achievement
The launch of the Tiangong-2 space lab had an enormous symbolic significance, said Wu Ping, Deputy Director of China's manned space engineering office. That's because the lab was farther, bigger and had a greater life span than its predecessor, she added.
China used the Long March-2F carrier rocket to launch the Shenzhou-11 mission. The 464 ton, 52-meter-tall Long March-2F carrier rocket blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, a military-operated facility on the edge of the Gobi Desert.
Image: picture-alliance/Photoshot/Y. Zhiyuan
An ambitious space program
China is intensifying efforts to build up its capabilities in space. To that effect, it plans to send its first space cargo ship Tianzhou-1 to the space lab in April 2017. The cargo ship will allow China to replenish the lab with fuel and other supplies.
Image: Reuters
China wants its own space station
The Chinese astronauts will conduct experiments on various space-related technologies and perform docking maneuvers. They are necessary for the country to achieve its goal of setting up its own space station. If, as planned, the International Space Station (shown in the picture) ends its mission in 2024, China would be the only country with a permanent post in outer space.
Image: Reuters/NASA
A 'Made in China' Mars rover
China recently published pictures of probes it wants to send to Mars in future to explore the planet. But so far, there have only been computer simulations showing a six-wheeled rover and a related landing craft. As Xinhua reported, the remote-controlled probe will conduct tests on the Martian surface and look for traces of water during a three-month mission to the planet by the end of the decade.
Image: SASTIND
The predecessor
The first Chinese space laboratory, Tiangong-1, was launched in September 2011. It went out of service in March after docking with three visiting spacecraft and extending its mission for two years.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
The first docking maneuver on Tiangong-1
Three spaceships had docked with Tiangong-1 before the lab went out of service. In 2011, the unmanned Shenzhou-8 mission (shown in photo) was able to dock with Tiangong-1 twice with a gap of 11 days. In 2012, Jing, the commander of the current Shenzhou-11 mission, successfully completed the docking maneuver.
