Is another Chinese space station about to plunge back to Earth? Nation’s Tiangong-2 craft drops 60 miles to orbit strangely close to our planet, and the government won't reveal why

又一个太空站即将坠向地球?“天宫二号”轨道异常下降60英里，不愿透露原因

Tiangong-2 was launched aboard a Long March 2F rocket in September 2016

Experts in the US monitored the drop in altitude for ten days from June 13

They believe the movements suggest China is preparing to decommission it

They will be ho for a more controlled re-entry than its predecessor station

Tiangong-1 hit headlines when it came plummeting back to Earth in April

2016年9月，“天宫二号”搭载长征F2火箭成功发射。自2018年6月13日开始，美国专家监测了“天宫二号”近10天的高度下降情况。他们认为，这些变化表明正准备让“天宫二号”退役。希望在重返大气层时，“天宫二号”能比之前的空间站更受控制。今年4月，“天宫一号”坠落地球，成为当时的头条新闻。

Yet another Chinese space station could be about to plunge back to Earth.

Three months after Tiangong-1 made a fiery re-entry into our atmosphere, it's sister craft, Tiangong-2, looks like it's about to do the same.

But unlike Tiangong-1, Tiangong-2 could have a more controlled descent.

The spacecraft was observed plummeting around 60 miles (95 km) toward the surface of the planet.

It has since returned to its normal orbital height, sparking speculation that China may be preparing to decommission the vessel in the near future.

然而，现在又有一个空间站将要坠向地球。在“天宫一号”火爆重返大气层三个月后，它的姐妹号“天宫二号”看来也要重蹈覆辙了。但与“天宫一号”不同的是，“天宫二号”的降落可能更可控。据观察，“天宫二号”朝地球表面下降了约60英里(95公里)，之后又回到了正常的轨道高度，这引发了人们的猜测，即可能准备在不久的将来让它退役。

China will be ho to avoid an embarrassing repeat of the events of April, when the nation's out-of-control Tiangong-1 space station returned to Earth with a bang.

China's Manned Space Engineering Office has yet to release an official statement on the latest situation.

The manoeuvres became apparent thanks to orbital information made public by US Strategic Command.

希望避免类似4月份的尴尬事件重演，当时失控的“天宫一号”太空站一声巨响轰然坠落在地球上。载人航天工程办公室尚未就最新情况发表官方声明。由于美国战略司令部公布了轨道信息，让我们看到了这些动向。

Its Joint Space Operations Center, located at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, claims the station lowered from an altitude of between 236 and 240 miles (380 to 386 km) to between 181 to 185 miles (292 to 297 km) on June 13.

It remained at that altitude for ten days, before returning its original height above the planet.

Experts believe this suggests China is preparing to decommission the station in a more controlled manner than Tiangong-1.

位于加州范登堡空军基地的联合太空作战中心称，从6月13日开始，“天宫二号”从236-240英里(380-386公里)的高度下降至181-185英里(292-297公里)，在这个高度停留了十天后，又恢复了之前的高度。专家认为，这表明正准备让“天宫二号”以一种比“天宫一号”更可控的方式退役。

Tiangong-1 spiralled out of control, with little certainty possible about when and where it might land.

China's controlled thrust tests, lowering and raising the satellite on command, hint at a desire to bring the station down at a time and place of their choosing.

While it is unclear exactly when they plan to do so, an area known as the 'satellite graveyard' seems a likely location for touch down.

This is a region of the South Pacific Ocean commonly used by Russian and US space agencies to dump debris.

当时“天宫一号”已经失去控制，几乎不能确定何时何地着陆。

的控制推力测试，降低和提高卫星的指令，暗示了他们希望能让空间站在他们选择的时间和地点降落。虽然目前尚不清楚他们计划什么时候付诸行动，但一个被称为“卫星墓地”的区域似乎是着陆的地点。这是南太平洋的一个区域，俄罗斯和美国的航天机构经常使用该区域作为着陆地点。

Speaking to SpaceNews, Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, said: 'It seems likely that the lowering of Tiangong-2’s orbit is the first step in safely disposing of it.'

To track the satellite's orbital path above the Earth in realtime, visit Satview.

哈佛-史密森天体物理学中心的天体物理学家乔纳森·麦克道尔在接受《太空新闻》采访时称：““天宫二号”的轨道下降是让它安全退役的第一步。”

如需实时跟踪卫星在地球上空的轨道，请访问Satview网站。

英国每日邮报读者评论：

原创翻译：三泰虎  http://www.santaihu.com/45395.html 译者：Jessica.Wu

外文：http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-5882053/Is-Chinese-space-station-crash-Earth.html

AEinstein, Princeton, United States, about 4 hours ago

Hope their military technology is equally bad.

希望他们的军事技术也是这么烂。

Pete Extra, Shepherds Bush, United Kingdom, about 7 hours ago

I'm going with Occam's Razor on this... The simplest answer is that they're preparing to ditch. It's obviously under full control.

答案很简单，就是他们正准备让它退役了，很明显一切都在掌控之中。

T_empathy, Germany, Germany, about 8 hours ago

This is what happens when you include dog meat into your diet !

这就是你们吃狗肉的后果。

T_empathy, Germany, Germany, about 8 hours ago

That is what happens when you steal Intellectual Property ... lots of missing links ! Governments around the world ought to stop the influx of these thieves and their thriving ways ( I.e .... hacking ) .

这就是你们窃取知识产权的后果……各国政府应该阻止这些窃贼的涌入，阻止他们向前发展（比如，黑客)。

swaneer, Alfheim, United States, about 9 hours ago

If it falls out of the sky and lands in the U.S., China is going to have to pay a big tariff bill on all that aluminum and steel.

如果“天宫二号”掉落在美国，将不得不为它带来的“铝和钢铁”支付高额关税。