Defunct Chinese space lab plunges into Ocean

The Tiangong-1 space lab was placed in orbit in 2011. Pic/AFP

A defunct Chinese space lab disintegrated under intense heat as it hurtled through Earth's atmosphere Monday and plunged towards a watery grave in the South Pacific, Chinese officials said. The Tiangong-1 "mostly" burnt up above the vast ocean's central region, China's Manned Space Engineering Office said. There was no immediate confirmation of the final resting place of any remaining debris, although the South Pacific is largely empty.

Tiangong-1 - or "Heavenly Palace" - was placed in orbit in September 2011, acting as a testing ground for China's efforts towards building its own space station by 2022, but it ceased functioning in 2016. Space officials had promised the atmospheric disintegration would offer a "splendid" show akin to a meteor shower. But, the remote location likely deprived stargazers of a spectacle of fireballs falling from the sky.

Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics, said the module zoomed over the Japanese city of Kyoto during daylight hours, reducing the odds of seeing it. "The good thing is that it doesn't cause any damage when it comes down," McDowell said.

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