China lost control of its first space station, Tiangong-1, as it was on its way back to Earth surface, according to reports.
Wu Ping, China's deputy director of manned space engineering office, said Tiangong-1 has completed its mission and is on its way back, as reported by Chinese official news agency, Xinhua.
The problem is, if China really lost control of the space station, there's no telling where the burning pieces of metal will land.
"You really can't steer these things," Harvard astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell told The Guardian.
"Even a couple of days before it re-enters we probably won't know better than six or seven hours, plus or minus, when it's going to come down. Not knowing when it's going to come down translates as not knowing where it's going to come down."
Through the apparent unrest of her crowd, Wu Ping assured everyone that the return to Earth of Tiangong-1 is not expected to cause damage on land or hinder aviation activities.
"China has always highly valued the management of space debris, conducting research and tests on space debris mitigation and cleaning," said Wu.
She added that the agency will release a forecast and announce when it is nearing the atmosphere. The announcement will be made internationally so as to make everyone aware that there might be space station debris that will be falling from the sky.
Tiangong-1 was launched and 2011 and it is also known as "Heavenly Palace." It measures up to eight tons in 8-by-10.4 meters in length. Interestingly, it was known as the potent political symbol of China's growing power.
The China National Space Administration (CNSA) designed Tiangong-1 to be a space station to support and allow manned spacecraft in docking. Through the course of its four and a half years of service, it has docked Shenzhou-8, Shenzhou-9, and Shenzhou-10 spacecraft.
Tiangong-1 was among the projects that aimed to turn China into a space superpower.
