A Massive Chinese rocket will fall uncontrollably back to earth soon. It will land anywhere between Denmark and Australia but the crash site is unknown, media Sky News reports.
On 28 April, China’s Long March 5B launched part of the new Chinese space station, a 22.5-metric-ton Tianhe core module into orbit. However, the roughly 30-meter-tall, 5-meter-diameter Long March 5B first stage also reached orbital velocity instead of falling within a predetermined area downrange.
This means that part of the huge rocket is falling back to Earth and could make an uncontrolled re-entry at an unknown landing point. The rocket could land anywhere between Denmark and Australia and Dr. Brad Tucker, Australian National University Astrophysicist said, “We do know it will come down, and most likely it will happen over an uninhabited piece on Earth.”
According to Tom Jones, a former NASA astronaut, the chance of being hit by the rocket is “infinitesimal”. The rocket will “probably” be broken into small pieces but the ordeal constitutes an embarrassment for China to allow the “garbage to fall on our heads”, he said.
The good news is that more than 70% of the Earth’s surface is water, increasing the odds that the rocket will splash down harmlessly into the ocean.
The rocket’s launch was part of 11 planned missions as part of the construction of China’s space station, which is expected to be completed in late 2022.
