China’s March’s long 5B rocket came back to Earth with cannons this weekend, burning most of the debris over the Sulu Sea, near the island of Palawan in the western Philippines, according to the China Manned Space Agency. First launched on July 24 on a mission to China’s Wentian room station module into orbit, the giant piece of space junk whizzed back to Earth after atmospheric drag forced it into an unpredictable and uncontrolled reentry.
While this takedown strategy was pre-planned by China, NASA has sparked anger in Beijing over the recklessness of the event, especially given that China “didn’t share specific trajectory information.”
NASA administrator Bill Nelson tweeted: “The People’s Republic of China did not share specific trajectory information when their Long March 5B rocket fell back to Earth.
“All space countries should follow established best practices and do their part to share this kind of information in advance to enable reliable predictions of the potential risk of debris impact, especially for heavy vehicles, such as the Long March 5B, which is a involve significant risk. of loss of life and property.
“This is critical to the responsible use of space and to ensure the safety of people here on Earth.”
Darren McKnight, a senior tech at California-based tracking company LeoLabs, has also lashed out at China.
He said: “What really should have happened is that there should have been some fuel on board to allow for a controlled return.
“That would be the responsible thing to do.”
Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, told CNN, “No other country leaves these 20-ton things in orbit to re-enter in an uncontrolled manner.”
According to estimates from the Center for Orbital Reentry and Debris Studies of the Aerospace Corporation, about 9.9 metric tons (5 to 9 metric tons of the Long March 5B likely survived reentry from Earth.
Several onlookers in Southeast Asia saw the glowing rocket debris flying through the air, leaving them stunned as they shared the images on social media.
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Retired Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield tweeted: “Looks like that Chinese rocket burned up just over Malaysia. Now wait to hear what big chunks splash/thump to earth.
For the time being, it remains unclear whether large pieces of the rocket were deposited on land or in the water.
Mr McDowell told CNN: “What we really want to know is if any pieces made it to the ground.
“That may take a little longer for the reports to filter back.”