Q&A on the News

Q: I read that a large Chinese satellite was due to re-enter the earth’s atmosphere sometime last month. I haven’t seen any mention of this lately. What’s the latest news about its ultimate demise?

PHIL PFLUEGER, MARIETTA

A: The Tiangong-1 space station, a Chinese satellite launched in 2011, fell back to Earth on April 2, mostly burning up in the atmosphere before landing in the southern Pacific Ocean, according to media reports that cited a statement from the China Manned Space Agency.

The spacecraft, which was originally set for decommissioning in 2013, had been out of control since 2016, and Chinese authorities warned late last year that the station would likely crash sometime this spring.

Tiangong-1 was the country’s first-ever space station, housing solar panels and enough room for two astronauts to live and work. Still, the craft served mostly an experimental role, and only two manned missions operated at the station during its two-year operational run.

While there were some concerns about whether debris from the satellite would pose a risk on Earth, only one person in history — Lottie Williams of Tulsa, Okla., in 1997 — has been recorded as being hit by pieces of a falling spacecraft.

Q&A on the News runs Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Fast Copy News Service wrote this column; Dillon Thompson contributed. Do you have a question? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).