China's Tiangong-1 space lab plummets to Earth, breaks up over Pacific

China's Tiangong-1 space lab plummets to Earth, breaks up over Pacific
By Sol Han, Serenitie Wang and Katie Hunt, CNN

Updated 1008 GMT (1808 HKT) April 2, 2018
In this picture picture released by Fraunhofer Institute FHR, the shape of China's falling space station Tiangong-1 can be seen in this radar image from the Fraunhofer Institute for High Frequency Physics and Radar Techniques near Bonn, Germany. In the next few days, the unoccupied Chinese space station, Tiangong-1, is expected to reenter the atmosphere following the end of its operational life. Most of the craft should burn up. . (Fraunhofer Institute FHR via AP)
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In this picture picture released by Fraunhofer Institute FHR, the shape of China's falling space station Tiangong-1 can be seen in this radar image from the Fraunhofer Institute for High Frequency Physics and Radar Techniques near Bonn, Germany. In the next few days, the unoccupied Chinese space station, Tiangong-1, is expected to reenter the atmosphere following the end of its operational life. Most of the craft should burn up. . (Fraunhofer Institute FHR via AP)Now Playing
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In this picture picture released by Fraunhofer Institute FHR, the shape of China's falling space station Tiangong-1 can be seen in this radar image from the Fraunhofer Institute for High Frequency Physics and Radar Techniques near Bonn, Germany. In the next few days, the unoccupied Chinese space station, Tiangong-1, is expected to reenter the atmosphere following the end of its operational life. Most of the craft should burn up. . (Fraunhofer Institute FHR via AP)
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(CNN)It was a fiery end to what was once one of China's highest-profile space projects.

The Tiangong-1 space lab re-entered Earth's atmosphere Monday morning, landing in the middle of the South Pacific, China Manned Space Agency said.
"Most parts were burned up in the re-entry process," it added.

China's Tiangong-1 space lab plummets to Earth, breaks up over Pacific
By Sol Han, Serenitie Wang and Katie Hunt, CNN

Updated 1008 GMT (1808 HKT) April 2, 2018
In this picture picture released by Fraunhofer Institute FHR, the shape of China's falling space station Tiangong-1 can be seen in this radar image from the Fraunhofer Institute for High Frequency Physics and Radar Techniques near Bonn, Germany. In the next few days, the unoccupied Chinese space station, Tiangong-1, is expected to reenter the atmosphere following the end of its operational life. Most of the craft should burn up. . (Fraunhofer Institute FHR via AP)
Play
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Duration Time 1:53

Fullscreen

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In this picture picture released by Fraunhofer Institute FHR, the shape of China's falling space station Tiangong-1 can be seen in this radar image from the Fraunhofer Institute for High Frequency Physics and Radar Techniques near Bonn, Germany. In the next few days, the unoccupied Chinese space station, Tiangong-1, is expected to reenter the atmosphere following the end of its operational life. Most of the craft should burn up. . (Fraunhofer Institute FHR via AP)Now Playing
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In this picture picture released by Fraunhofer Institute FHR, the shape of China's falling space station Tiangong-1 can be seen in this radar image from the Fraunhofer Institute for High Frequency Physics and Radar Techniques near Bonn, Germany. In the next few days, the unoccupied Chinese space station, Tiangong-1, is expected to reenter the atmosphere following the end of its operational life. Most of the craft should burn up. . (Fraunhofer Institute FHR via AP)
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(CNN)It was a fiery end to what was once one of China's highest-profile space projects.

The Tiangong-1 space lab re-entered Earth's atmosphere Monday morning, landing in the middle of the South Pacific, China Manned Space Agency said.
"Most parts were burned up in the re-entry process," it added.

The space lab, its name translating to "Heavenly Palace," was launched in September 2011 as a prototype for China's ultimate space goal: a permanent space station is expected to launch around 2022.
Its demise, though ultimately uneventful, captured public attention in recent weeks, as scientists around the world tracked its uncontrolled descent.
"It did exactly what it was expected to do; the predictions, at least the past 24 hours' ones, were spot on; and as expected it fell somewhere empty and did no damage," said Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.
McDowell said there was unlikely to be any amateur images of the vessel's re-entry, given it was daytime in the Pacific when it crashed to Earth. Scientists had earlier said it might be possible to see the spacecraft burn up in a "series of fireballs streaking across the sky."
It landed about 8:15 a.m. Beijing time (8:15 p.m. ET Sunday), China's Manned Space Agency said.
Leroy Chiao, a former US astronaut who flew on four space missions, told CNN he would be "surprised if any major pieces survived the re-entry, as the Tiangong-1 was not that big of a spacecraft as they go, and it did not have a heat shield."
Anything that did make it through the atmosphere "will be at the bottom of the ocean by now," he added.