China's Tiangong-1 Space Station Could Hit Earth On April Fool's Day

By Chris Spears

DENVER (CBS4) - You've probably heard rumors that an out of control space station is spiraling toward Earth and it could hit sometime around April Fool's Day.

The space station is called Tiangong-1 and it was the first space station built and launched by China in 2011.

In early 2016 Chinese officials announced they had lost contact with Tiangong-1 and its been orbiting Earth ever since.

The space station is gradually lowering in altitude and slowing down due to drag from Earth's atmosphere.

China originally thought that Tiangong-1 would reenter Earth's atmosphere in late 2017 but that didn't happen.

Experts now think it will make reentry sometime on or around April 1 and agree that it will happen somewhere between the latitude lines of 43°N and 43°S, which encompasses most of the lower 48 United States.

If you see anything mysterious in the sky over the upcoming weekend, which is when Tiangong-1 is supposed to make reentry, you're asked to report it here.

Detailed information about Tiangong-1 is available through aerospace.org.

Meteorologist Chris Spears travels weekly in the CBS4 Mobile Weather Lab reporting about Colorado's weather and climate. Check out his bio, connect with him on Facebook or follow him on Twitter @ChrisCBS4.