Chinese space station Tiangong-1 is falling to Earth in an uncontrolled plummet that could see the space craft plunge through our atmosphere this Easter weekend.
And while experts have assured that the bus-sized space station is likely to burn up upon its re-entry, there are concerns that surviving debris could crash into Earth at any location sitting 43 degrees on either side of the equator, which includes parts of the U.S., southern Europe, the Balkans, Argentina and New Zealand, Sky News reported.
Tiangong-1 launched in 2011 but was later decommissioned and deorbited after being replaced by the Tiangong-2. In 2016, China lost control of the station, making it impossible to pinpoint the exact date of re-entry or location of landing until it dropped lower in its orbit.
The European Space Agency expects Tiangong-1 to make its descent to Earth sometime between March 30 and April 6 and Aerospace has forecast re-entry on April 1, or within four days of that date.
Now the falling space station's descent has sparked a wave of fear among the public, which many experts are fighting hard to dismiss.
While researchers have admitted that some of the space station's parts could survive re-entry, the chances of these flaming pieces of debris crashing into land were minimal, Space.com said.
"It's more likely than not that this thing will re-enter over an unpopulated area and it may be that no one ever sees it," said Andrew Abraham, a senior member of the technical staff at the Aerospace Corporation, according to NBC News.
The Aerospace Corporation noted that the odds of being hit by space debris were less than one in 1 trillion, however surviving debris from Tiangong-1 could be carrying toxic materials, and people were advised to avoid touching space debris or breathing in any vapors that may be released.
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