Chinese space station to crash back to Earth in coming hours

China’s defunct Tiangong 1 space station is hurtling toward Earth and is expected to re-enter the atmosphere within hours, with Israel inside the massive range of areas across the globe where pieces may crash back to earth.

Most of the craft should burn up on re-entry, so scientists said it poses only a slight risk to people on the ground.

The European Space Agency forecasts that the station, whose name translates as “Heavenly Palace,” will re-enter sometime between Sunday night and early Monday.

The Aerospace Corp. predicts Tiangong 1’s re-entry will take place within 2 ½ hours of either side of 3:10 a.m. Israel time.

Based on the space station’s orbit, it will come back to Earth somewhere between 43 degrees north and 43 degrees south, a range covering most of the United States, China, Africa, southern Europe, Australia and South America.

Out of range are Russia, Canada and northern Europe.

— AP