China's rocket weighing more than 20 tons will fall 'out of control' in a few days


by

China News Service

It was reported that the booster part of the Long March 5B rocket launched by China on July 24, 2022 will fall on the earth from the end of July to the beginning of August. This is the third time that a rocket component of this type, weighing over 20 tons, has become a problem as it falls to Earth in an uncontrolled manner.

China space station module's massive rocket falling from space | Space
https://www.space.com/china-long-march-rocket-uncontrolled-reentry-wentian

Rocket debris from China space station mission to crash land - The Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/07/25/china-launches-rocket-space-station-tiangong/

Long March 5B: Debris from massive Chinese booster rocket could fall to Earth early next week - CNN
https://edition.cnn.com/2022/07/26/china/china-wentian-space-debris-intl-hnk-scn/index.html



At 15:22 on July 24, Japan time, China launched the Long March 5B rocket from the Wenchang satellite launch site in the south of the country. The Chinese government has announced that this rocket is equipped with the space station's experimental module, 'Monten,' and that it has successfully docked with the space station's core facility, ' Tenwa ,' after launch.

The problem this time is a huge part of the rocket that launched the space station module. 'The core stage of the 21-ton rocket, which has no autonomous propulsion capability, remains in orbit and is being actively deorbited ,' said Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. I can confirm that there is no, 'he pointed out that the rocket after launch was not controlled.

Also, the American aerospace company The Aerospace Corporation said, ``The latest forecast for rocket re-entry is 7:52 UTC on July 31 (16:52 Japan time) plus or minus 22 hours.'' He tweeted to warn of an out-of-control rocket crash to Earth. Since there is still a time gap until re-entry, it is difficult to predict where it will fall specifically.



This is not the first time that parts of the Long March 5B rocket have fallen. In May 2020, parts of the same type of rocket fell over New York and were reported as ``the largest space debris in the last 30 years''. Also, in May 2021, a core stage weighing 21 tons fell into the Indian Ocean, and NASA issued a statement of condemnation.

NASA issued a condemnation statement on the Chinese rocket 'Long March 5B' that fell into the Indian Ocean - GIGAZINE



Reportedly, these rocket parts are unlikely to fall into settlements and cause casualties. However, since it is a huge part, it may cause serious damage if it falls in an urban area. 'It's a 20-ton metal object, so it's going to decompose once it hits the atmosphere, but it's pretty big,' said Michael Byers, a professor at the University of British Columbia in Canada and a researcher on the risk of injury from space debris. A lot of debris, including things, will reach the surface,' he said.

Research has shown that debris from such rockets is more likely to land near the equator, where many economically distressed regions are located. According to Byers et al.'s paper published in the scientific journal Nature Astronomy, the possibility of the rocket body falling at the latitudes of Jakarta (Indonesia), Dhaka (Bangladesh), and Lagos (Nigeria) is New York, Beijing, and Moscow. It is three times higher than the latitude.

In their paper, Byers et al. noted, ``The distribution of rocket launch and re-entry points suggests that casualty estimates, and thus the risk to human life, are disproportionately borne by people in the Southern Hemisphere, with the major launch countries being the world's largest. Advances in technology and improvements in the space program have made it possible to avoid most of these chaotic re-entries, but still cost launching countries and companies We argue that they are reluctant to accept the increase,' he said, pointing out that the danger of falling rockets launched by rich countries has become a new North-South problem.

・Continued
China's ``uncontrollable rocket'' falls in the waters near the Philippines and many images of fireballs are posted on the net, ``China is irresponsible'' NASA-GIGAZINE

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