...but their space station just keeps on going!
Launched in 2011, China's Tiangong 1 Space Station http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiangong-1 was originally planned as a short-duration mission to test technologies for a future, more permanent space establishment. Tiangong 1 was supposed to be de-orbited in 2013, but as of now it still circles the earth in low orbit. Unlike the unfortunate fate of Chang'e 3, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chang'e_3 China's soft-landing moon rover mission, Tiangong 1 continues to operate, although it is unknown by the rest of world what the new mission objectives are, if anything.
Accurate orbital predictions can be found at http://www.heavens-above.com/ , and you too can see this technological spectacle for yourself. Photographed about a month ago, this image shows 30 seconds of a Tiangong 1 transit though the Leo area of the sky
Mike M.
Their Rover May Have Only Made it Two Weeks...
Their Rover May Have Only Made it Two Weeks...
"The purpose of life is the investigation of the Sun, the Moon, and the heavens." - Anaxagoras