12-07-2017, 05:43 PM
Tomorrow evening, Dec 8th at 6:33 PM we have a space station other than the usual ISS crossing our skies. Tiangong 1, the first manned Chinese space station will make a relatively bright appearance at 0.7 magnitude. The Chinese already have an updated station, the Tiangong 2 in orbit, so Tiangong 1 is presently unoccupied, out of control, and expected to re-enter the atmosphere sometime before April 2018. It's not anywhere near as large as the ISS, but large enough that it will burn brightly, with some larger pieces expected to reach earth.
So take a look tomorrow, it may be one of the few opportunities we'll get to see it while still in orbit, before it tumbles back to earth.
http://www.heavens-above.com/passdetails...at=19.6025&lng=-154.9416&loc=HPP&alt=-7&tz=UCT10&satid=37820&mjd=58096.1915440373&type=V
"Enlightened statesmen will not always be at the helm." -James Madison, The Federalist Papers, 1787
So take a look tomorrow, it may be one of the few opportunities we'll get to see it while still in orbit, before it tumbles back to earth.
http://www.heavens-above.com/passdetails...at=19.6025&lng=-154.9416&loc=HPP&alt=-7&tz=UCT10&satid=37820&mjd=58096.1915440373&type=V
"Enlightened statesmen will not always be at the helm." -James Madison, The Federalist Papers, 1787
“We do this thing not because it is easy, but because we thought it would be easy.”