Update, 6:22 p.m.: The Pacific got any debris:
UPDATE: #JFSCC confirmed #Tiangong1 reentered the atmosphere over the southern Pacific Ocean at ~5:16 p.m. (PST) April 1. For details see https://t.co/OzZXgaEX0W @US_Stratcom @usairforce @AFSpaceCC @30thSpaceWing @PeteAFB @SpaceTrackOrg pic.twitter.com/KVljDALqzi
— 18 SPCS (@18SPCS) April 2, 2018
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Update, 5:42 p.m., Pacific:
Hopefully, the people of Chile and Argentina have caught a break – seeing a night-time spectacle, without any debris fall hitting nearby!
Didn’t get any reports yet of people seeing Tiangong over S America. No decay notice on Space-Track yet. Unclear if Tiangong is still in orbit or not. That’s normal, I’m afraid! We just have to wait…
— Jonathan McDowell (@planet4589) April 2, 2018
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Update, 5:37 p.m.:
#JFSCC predicting #Tiangong1 reentry over the Atlantic Ocean (between South America & Africa at ~1749 PST today. For details see https://t.co/OzZXgaEX0W @US_Stratcom @usairforce @AFSpaceCC @30thSpaceWing @PeteAFB @SpaceTrackOrg https://t.co/fFD3yGYZPo
— 18 SPCS (@18SPCS) April 1, 2018
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Update, 5:35 p.m.: It’s off Aerospace’s online tracking map; just checked that, so I don’t know when they took it off. It was over the Pacific, last time I checked the map.
Update, 5:32 p.m.: Per La Vanguardia, China’s Manned Space Flight center (CMSEO) says that Tiangong debris will arrive in the south central Atlantic at 00:49 UTC.
Update, 5:22 p.m. Pacific:
Any surviving debris should hit the planet within the hour, per Aerospace, but will we know?
I have a feeling the next 3 hours are going to be me explaining that: yes, it might have come down by now, but no, we don’t actually know.
— Jonathan McDowell (@planet4589) April 2, 2018
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Update, April 1, 2018, 3:24 p.m. Pacific:
At the moment, the nonprofit company Aerospace guesstimates a reentry point somewhere off the western coast of South America, roughly two hours from now, but that is extremely iffy, as per the Space-com article linked below. The spacecraft is tumbling and many factors are working on it as it falls.
Here is Aerospace’s video of what the reentry might look like from space (they include actual footage of another craft’s reentry, taken from a plane–yes, it does look a little like the ending of Gravity, if Sandra Bullock had come down at night):
And here’s a little advice on what to do if you find a piece of Tiangong.
Just FYI: Space.Com is doing updates here.
Featured image: Craigboy via Wikimedia. CC BY-SA 3.0.
Flight To Wonder 