A Space Station Crashes to Earth

By the time you hear this week’s episode, China’s Tiangong-1 may have spectacularly re-entered our planet’s atmosphere, raining metal on an unpredictable location. The Aerospace Corporation’s Bill Ailor, an expert on space debris, tells us there’s little to worry about, but bigger challenges are ahead in low Earth orbit. Bruce Betts also has his mind on the small space station. Emily Lakdawalla is back from the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference with much news to share. NASA finally has a budget for the year already underway! Casey Dreier breaks it down.

Related Links:

• Tiangong-1: How to follow the space lab's decaying orbit and reentry
• Aerospace Corporation Center for Orbital and Reentry Debris Studies (CORDS)
• CORDS experts, including Dr. William Ailor
• #LPSC2018: Titan Is Terrific!
• #LPSC2018: Mars mass wasting in the laboratory
• NASA wins big in 2018 budget deal

This week's prizes include a vanishingly rare Planetary Society rubber asteroid! Also, a 200-point iTelescope.net astronomy account.

This week's question:

What missions visited the Tiangong-1 space station?

To submit your answer:

Complete the contest entry form at http://planetary.org/radiocontest or write to us at [email protected] no later than Wednesday, April 4th at 8am Pacific Time. Be sure to include your name and mailing address.

Last week's question:

How many Space Shuttle flights docked with the Mir space station?

Answer:

The answer will be revealed next week.

Question from the week before:

Of the 88 modern constellations, which is the smallest in area? (By solid angle that they subtend in the sky.)

Answer:

The smallest of the 88 modern constellations is Crux, also known as the Southern Cross.