Chinese space lab to fall to Earth within days in 'fiery demise'
Tehran (KNA) - An out-of-control Chinese space lab is expected to fall to Earth within days, according to the latest estimate from the European Space Agency (ESA), which is monitoring its descent.
The ESA's Space Debris Office said that the re-entry window for the Tiangong-1 space station was between March 30 and April 2 although it warned the estimate was "highly variable."The China Manned Space Engineering Office said it expects the lab to reenter the atmosphere between March 31 and April 4, burning up in the process.
Space experts stress the potential danger to humans is tiny -- the odds of debris from the vessel hitting a human are estimated to be less than one in 1 trillion. That compares with a one-in-1.4 million chance of a person in the US being struck by lightning.
However, Alan Duffy, a research fellow in the Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing at Swinburne University of Technology in Australia, said that China's secrecy around the space mission made the risks difficult to assess.
Source: CNN