> Presumably, Pearlman said, the space station is carrying all manner of hazardous materials not safe for human contact, including fuel tanks with noxious fuel inside.
I buy this argument when it comes to radioactive materials but I never heard Tiangong-1 had a source for them on board. Everything organic (like fuel) should be made harmlessly by the reentry heat. This leaves us with inorganic compounds like asbestos which are dangerous, but still ubiquitous in most parts of the world. So I think this warning is a bit sensationalist.
Probably they are worried about hydrazine like product, that have a lot of nitrogen. I'm still not 100% convinced it can survive a crash like this, but I read the same warning before many times, so I'd prefer to be safe.
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[ 2.6 ms ] story [ 11.9 ms ] threadI buy this argument when it comes to radioactive materials but I never heard Tiangong-1 had a source for them on board. Everything organic (like fuel) should be made harmlessly by the reentry heat. This leaves us with inorganic compounds like asbestos which are dangerous, but still ubiquitous in most parts of the world. So I think this warning is a bit sensationalist.
For example read: http://www.spacesafetymagazine.com/space-debris/falling-sate...