Uh Oh: Chinese Space Station Might Crash Into Lower Michigan

A Chinese space station named Tiangong-1, originally launched in 2011, has been traveling out of control through space since 2016 and may plummet to Earth on or around April 3rd, according to experts. A more precise date of impact may be known as reentry approaches.

The European Space Agency's Space Debris Office recently predicted that Tiangong-1, or heavenly palace, would enter Earth's atmosphere between March 24 and April 19, while Aerospace's estimate includes two weeks of error, one before and one after April 3.

Aerospace can "confidently say that this object will reenter somewhere between 43° North and 43° South latitudes," though the southern portion of lower Michigan apparently has the highest probability of being hit by debris from the space station.

While Tiangong-1 is expected to burn up upon reentry, "there is a chance that a small amount of Tiangong-1 debris may survive reentry and impact the ground," Aerospace reports. "Should this happen, any surviving debris would fall within a region that is a few hundred kilometers in size and centered along a point on the Earth that the station passes over."

The 10-40% of debris that has the potential to not burn up may weigh up to 220lbs and may contain the dangerous chemical hydrazine, a corrosive chemical that is used in jet fuel. This highly toxic chemical has been linked to cancer in humans.

But rest assured Michiganders, according to Aerospace, "it is highly unlikely that debris from this reentry will strike any person or significantly damage any property."