There's an abandoned space station that's falling out of orbit and is due to crash-land somewhere on Earth within the week, possibly this weekend. So is southeast Minnesota in its path?

If you haven't heard, an old space station the Chinese abandoned two years ago is falling back to earth. (Interestingly, they launched it in 2011. And they only used it for five years, abandoning it back in 2016. Which is really not that impressive. Heck, I've gotten more years out of my little SUV that I bought back in 2008-- and I'm still driving it!)

Anyway, while most of the station is expected to burn up as it flies through our atmosphere, some experts say a good chunk of it-- like about 19,000 pounds, that is-- is due to land sometime in the next few days, probably Sunday or Monday.

Oh. And when they say 'land,' they actually mean 'crash.' Because the good 'ol  Tiangong-1 space station is about the size of a Winnebago, which means you probably don't want to be under it when it comes crashing down.

So where will it land? Well, this CBS News story says it should hit somewhere between "43 degrees north and 43 degrees south, an area that includes most of the United States," which, yes, INCLUDES our lovely landscape here in southeast Minnesota.

Great.

But, despite that, experts say the chances of getting hit are actually pretty slim. Like, you have a better chance of winning the Powerball jackpot. By like a million times. So it's probably nothing to worry about. But still-- there IS a chance.

I'd love to stay and chat some more, but I'm going to go and see if I can find my old motorcycle helmet. You know, just in case...

Listen to Curt St. John from 6 to 10 a.m. on Quick Country 96.5 
and from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on 103.9 The Doc

 

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