There is less and less time for the remains of a Chinese rocket to fall to the earth's surface.
The
largest section of the rocket that launched the main module of China's first permanent space station into orbit
is expected to fall back to Earth
this Saturday
in an unknown location.
The section of the
Long March 5B
rocket
that is expected to weigh 20 tons, twice the size of a school bus, is 98 feet long and 10 stories high, making it
one of the largest chunks of debris ever to return to the atmosphere. hence its continued vigilance.
It is circling through space in an uncontrolled orbit at 18,000 miles per hour after taking off last month carrying part of the country's new space station.
The rocket in tests to take astronauts to Mars explodes again
Feb. 3, 202101: 33
There is a minimal possibility that the remains impact in New York, Los Angeles, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro,
the Nigerian capital of Abuja or Beijing.
Most likely it will land in an ocean or in the wild.
China claimed that this section of the rocket will burn for the most part upon entering the atmosphere, posing little threat to people and property on the ground.
The United States said Friday that
it had "no" plans to shoot down the rocket at the moment,
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said.
[The US Space Force watches a Chinese rocket that will hit the Earth's surface out of control]
"We hope that it impacts in a place where it does not harm anyone, such as the ocean or another similar place," the Pentagon chief said at a press conference.
The latest forecast is for the rocket to enter the atmosphere at 11:59 (GMT on Saturday), with a margin of error of more or less 7 hours and 45 minutes, although
the best estimates can only be made a few hours before. of readmission.
Why is NASA studying planet Earth from space?
A scientist explains it
April 22, 202102: 53
Where it will fall "cannot be determined until hours after its re-entry," the Pentagon said in a statement Tuesday.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Wednesday that
the Space Force is "aware of and tracking the location"
of the Chinese rocket.
Aerospace Corp., a nonprofit company, expects the debris to fall into the Pacific Ocean, near the equator, after passing over cities in the eastern United States.
Its orbit covers a strip of the planet from New Zealand to Newfoundland, in Canada.
The Global Times newspaper, published by the Communist Party of China, reported that the exterior of the rocket, made of aluminum alloy,
will easily burn in the atmosphere,
posing an extremely remote risk.
With information from AP, Efe and NBC News.