Beijing is being criticized for a rocket(Long March 5b) that it sent into space and lost control of it, and it is feared that it will fall in populated areas upon its return to Earth, and the Pentagon said it is monitoring the rocket, so what is the story this time?
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China lost a 21-ton rocket and other satirical publications have turned the story into a joke on social media platforms around the world during the past two days, and today, Wednesday, May 5, the US Department of Defense entered the line of the rocket crisis Chinese.
When did the story of the Chinese rocket begin?
Last Thursday, China launched the "Long March 5B" rocket into space, carrying the first component of the space station that Beijing is building to become the second after the International Space Station.
The rocket was carrying the "main unit" that will become the residence of a crew of three astronauts on the permanent space station that China aims to complete by the end of 2022, and the unit called "Tianhe" meaning "Harmony of the Heavens" was launched on board the "Long March 5B rocket It is the largest Chinese rocket, according to Reuters.
The Chinese media celebrated the successful launch of the rocket on its journey into space, and quoted President Xi Jinping as a speech in which he congratulated the country on this achievement, describing the matter and the Chinese space station as "an important pioneering project in building a strong state in technology and in space."
But on Monday, the Space News website published a report saying that China lost control of the huge rocket after it delivered the main unit of the space station to its location, and what is meant here is that the rocket successfully completed its mission, but the problem is that Beijing lost control of the rocket, leaving it orbiting around the Earth.
What exactly is the problem with the Chinese rocket?
In order for the picture to be clear, it is important to say that in such cases, after the rocket completes its mission, that is, to deliver what it carries to the specified place in space and the separation is completed, the rocket begins its journey back to Earth and enters the atmosphere to disintegrate and fall in an uninhabited area that is usually in one The ocean by the coordinates specified by the earth station that controls the rocket's path.
This is precisely the problem with the Chinese rocket, as Beijing lost control of it, and it is currently orbiting the Earth every 90 minutes at a speed of about 27,600 km, and at an altitude of more than 300 km, according to reports specialized in space monitoring the rocket since Monday, May 3.
And a report by the British Newspaper the Guardian stated that the rocket, which is now orbiting the Earth without control, weighs 21 tons.
Harvard University astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell told the newspaper: "I think that according to current standards it is not expected for the rocket to be allowed to enter the earth’s atmosphere without control."
McDowell described what China had done as "not good," and said that last time, when a "Long March 5B" rocket was fired, they ended up dropping large rods of metal after flying into the sky, causing damage to many buildings in Ivory Coast.
space program on Space News, the rocket body is expected to return to Earth sometime during the next few days, and other sources have indicated that it may be yours on May 10.
McDowell told the site: "When a rocket object falls from orbit, it may burn in the Earth's atmosphere, but large pieces of its debris can survive the fall, and most of the planet is oceans, so it is likely that the falling rocket pieces will land in them, but still It can threaten populated areas by falling into them. "
But he also said, "I think in the current situation it is not expected that the rocket will re-enter the earth’s atmosphere without control.”
But the Pentagon (the US Department of Defense) issued a statement today, Wednesday, about the Chinese rocket, stating that the Pentagon is tracking and monitoring the Chinese rocket, due to the lack of control of the rocket and the concern that this raises about where its debris falls after burning in the atmosphere on the way back to Earth.
Pentagon spokesman Mike Howard said in the statement that the expected date for the Chinese rocket to enter the Earth's atmosphere is "roughly May 8," meaning next Saturday, adding that the point at which the debris might fall can only be precisely determined within hours after the rocket enters. Atmosphere.
The Pentagon statement said that the 18th Space Control Division - which is currently monitoring the rocket's trajectory - will provide daily updates on the rocket's location through the Space Track website, according to a report by CNN.
Is the end of the world approaching?
The constant news about the Chinese rocket was quickly captured by those fond of conspiracy theories on social media platforms, whether in the form of sarcastic comments or serious-looking posts talking about the catastrophic damage that the rocket might cause over certain populated areas.
It is important here to stop at the known facts about similar types of these events. A pressure tank from a Falcon 9 rocket developed by SpaceX fell on a farm in Washington, DC, leaving a hole 4 inches deep in the ground, and no one was injured in the accident. According to a report by Sputnik (the Russian website).
In 2018, a situation very similar to what is currently happening with the Long March rocket, when a prototype of the space station that China is building returned to Earth uncontrollably in 2018 and fell over the uninhabited South Pacific Ocean.
Jonathan McDowell, a space scientist at the Center for Space Physics at Harvard University, told CNN that the current situation of the Chinese rocket out of control "does not represent the end of the world."
McDowell clarified the situation, saying, “I don't think people need to take precautions. The risk of some damage or a rocket debris hitting someone is very low - yes it might happen but it is a low probability - but the risk of hitting a particular person is quite remote. I will not be so anxious to lose sleep because of this rocket on the grounds that it is a personal threat to me. There are much bigger things that deserve to be concerned about. "
McDowell explained his view that determining a specific point at which the rocket debris will fall is impossible at this stage due to the enormous speed of the rocket, and that any slight change of any kind may cause a dramatic change in its direction, adding: "We expect the rocket to enter the atmosphere between days 8. And May 10, during that period, will orbit the Earth 30 times”. This thing is starting at about 18 thousand miles per hour, and therefore if it fails to predict its fall by one hour, this means that the fall is 18 thousand miles away from that expectation."
McDowell advised people not to believe someone telling them that "the rocket will fall in a specific area," stressing that it is impossible to correctly predict where the debris will fall hours before the rocket enters the atmosphere.
In conclusion, there is a near consensus that the place closest to the fall of the debris of the Chinese rocket will be one of the oceans that represent 71% of the surface area of the Earth, and this is what McDowell expressed by saying: Simply because it represents the largest mass of the planet's surface area.
