The 23-tonne component is expected to dock with Tiangong’s core module within hours of lift-off before being relocated by robotic arm to finish station.
Astrophysicist captures images of Chinese rocket core set to crash to Earth phillyvoice.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from phillyvoice.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Ground-based radars have detected the 100-foot tall core passing through low-Earth orbit at varying altitudes between 106 and 231 miles, traveling at more than 15,840 mph. The object has been classified and is now being tracked by the U.S. military.
Eventually, the core will be dragged out of orbit by Earth s atmosphere, where much of it will likely burn up and the remnants will crash. Given the core s high rate of speed, it has been orbiting Earth about every 90 minutes, making a reentry point and crash site highly difficult to predict.
Weather forecasts over the coming days suggest that if the core were to crash somewhere in the United States, several locations appear to be in its path, according to Weatherboy.com: