Tiangong-1 may face challenges, but scientists remain confident

Tiangong-1 space module has been in orbit for more than 600 days. Both Shenzhou-8 and Shenzhou-9 docked successfully with it. The lifetime of Tiangong-1 is 2 years.

Now that it’s nearing its full term, there could be reduced performance of some components.And the existence of micro-organisms could have altered the environment of the space module.

But scientists say they have taken this situation under full consideration in its design, and they are confident Tiangong-1 will complete its mission successfully.