Debris from falling rocket likely landed in the Indian Ocean
By
Brian Lada, AccuWeather meteorologist and content supervisor &
Jessica Storm, AccuWeather Meteorologist
Updated May 10, 2021 4:06 PM EST
The head of NASA accused China of “failing to meet responsible standards” after debris from its rocket landed near the Maldives.
An incredibly large piece of space junk has collided with Earth’s atmosphere this weekend with pieces of debris reaching the planet’s surface.
On Thursday, April 29, China launched a Long March 5B rocket, a large rocket that lofted the first piece of the country’s new space station into orbit around the Earth.
The launch itself appeared to be successful, but the aftermath created some cause for concern. The core stage of the rocket that did the heavy lifting to get the space station into orbit also entered orbit around the planet and fell uncontrollably back toward the atmosphere.
This was one of the largest pieces of space junk to ever make an uncontrolled reentry, SpaceNews said. And worse yet -- for a long time, it was unclear precisely when or where it would fall back down to Earth.
The Long March-5B Y2 rocket, carrying the core module of China's space station Tianhe, takes off from Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan province, China, April 29, 2021. (China Daily via REUTERS)
Since the late-April launch, ground crews were tracking the defunct rocket, including U.S. Space Command.
The U.S. Space Command said that it was likely to reenter the Earth's atmosphere sometime between late Saturday afternoon and Saturday night, but “its exact entry point into the Earth’s atmosphere cannot be pinpointed until within hours of its reentry.”
Most of the rocket burned up as it plunged through the atmosphere, but some pieces reportedly reached the surface, although how much debris made it to the surface remains unclear.
Scientists determined that the unusually large space junk would enter Earth’s atmosphere somewhere between approximately 41.5 degrees north latitude and approximately 41.5 degrees south latitude based on the trajectory of the rocket.
This zone included some of the world’s largest cities, but it also included large swaths of the vast Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean.
"I don't think people should take precautions,” Jonathan McDowell told CNN. McDowell is an astrophysicist at the Astrophysics Center at Harvard University and has been posting detailed information about this upcoming event on his Twitter page.
“The risk that there will be some damage or that it would hit someone is pretty small -- not negligible, it could happen -- but the risk that it will hit you is incredibly tiny,” he added. “And so I would not lose one second of sleep over this on a personal threat basis.”
The chances of any debris falling within a half mile of any location was 1-in-196.9 million, according to SpaceTrack.org, an organization that actively tracks objects in space.
For comparison, the odds of getting struck by lightning is 1-in-15,300 and the chance of winning the Mega Millions’ lottery jackpot is 1-in-302,575,350.
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A similar but much smaller event unfolded in the sky over the Pacific Northwest in late March following a SpaceX launch.
The second stage of the company’s Falcon 9 rocket broke apart and was visible across Oregon, Washington and southern British Columbia, creating a jaw-dropping spectacle.
Onlookers yelled in excitement as they watched pieces of the rocket burn up overhead with a small chunk crashing into a farm in Washington.
Pieces of an old SpaceX rocket burning up over Washington on March 25, 2021. (Twitter/ @WashingtonWAWX)
U.S. Space Command reported that the debris entered the atmosphere over the Arabian Peninsula late Saturday EDT, though it is unknown if it landed on land or water. The China Manned Space Agency (CMSA), however, reported that the debris did land in an area of the Indian Ocean.
Because pieces of the Chinese rocket landed in an ocean, it had a small impact on the environment as the Long March 5B rocket uses environmentally friendly fuel, Reuters said.
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News / Astronomy
Debris from falling rocket likely landed in the Indian Ocean
By Brian Lada, AccuWeather meteorologist and content supervisor & Jessica Storm, AccuWeather Meteorologist
Updated May 10, 2021 4:06 PM EST
The head of NASA accused China of “failing to meet responsible standards” after debris from its rocket landed near the Maldives.
An incredibly large piece of space junk has collided with Earth’s atmosphere this weekend with pieces of debris reaching the planet’s surface.
On Thursday, April 29, China launched a Long March 5B rocket, a large rocket that lofted the first piece of the country’s new space station into orbit around the Earth.
The launch itself appeared to be successful, but the aftermath created some cause for concern. The core stage of the rocket that did the heavy lifting to get the space station into orbit also entered orbit around the planet and fell uncontrollably back toward the atmosphere.
This was one of the largest pieces of space junk to ever make an uncontrolled reentry, SpaceNews said. And worse yet -- for a long time, it was unclear precisely when or where it would fall back down to Earth.
The Long March-5B Y2 rocket, carrying the core module of China's space station Tianhe, takes off from Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan province, China, April 29, 2021. (China Daily via REUTERS)
Since the late-April launch, ground crews were tracking the defunct rocket, including U.S. Space Command.
The U.S. Space Command said that it was likely to reenter the Earth's atmosphere sometime between late Saturday afternoon and Saturday night, but “its exact entry point into the Earth’s atmosphere cannot be pinpointed until within hours of its reentry.”
Most of the rocket burned up as it plunged through the atmosphere, but some pieces reportedly reached the surface, although how much debris made it to the surface remains unclear.
Scientists determined that the unusually large space junk would enter Earth’s atmosphere somewhere between approximately 41.5 degrees north latitude and approximately 41.5 degrees south latitude based on the trajectory of the rocket.
This zone included some of the world’s largest cities, but it also included large swaths of the vast Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean.
"I don't think people should take precautions,” Jonathan McDowell told CNN. McDowell is an astrophysicist at the Astrophysics Center at Harvard University and has been posting detailed information about this upcoming event on his Twitter page.
“The risk that there will be some damage or that it would hit someone is pretty small -- not negligible, it could happen -- but the risk that it will hit you is incredibly tiny,” he added. “And so I would not lose one second of sleep over this on a personal threat basis.”
The chances of any debris falling within a half mile of any location was 1-in-196.9 million, according to SpaceTrack.org, an organization that actively tracks objects in space.
For comparison, the odds of getting struck by lightning is 1-in-15,300 and the chance of winning the Mega Millions’ lottery jackpot is 1-in-302,575,350.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP
A similar but much smaller event unfolded in the sky over the Pacific Northwest in late March following a SpaceX launch.
The second stage of the company’s Falcon 9 rocket broke apart and was visible across Oregon, Washington and southern British Columbia, creating a jaw-dropping spectacle.
Onlookers yelled in excitement as they watched pieces of the rocket burn up overhead with a small chunk crashing into a farm in Washington.
Pieces of an old SpaceX rocket burning up over Washington on March 25, 2021. (Twitter/ @WashingtonWAWX)
U.S. Space Command reported that the debris entered the atmosphere over the Arabian Peninsula late Saturday EDT, though it is unknown if it landed on land or water. The China Manned Space Agency (CMSA), however, reported that the debris did land in an area of the Indian Ocean.
Because pieces of the Chinese rocket landed in an ocean, it had a small impact on the environment as the Long March 5B rocket uses environmentally friendly fuel, Reuters said.
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Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier, Spectrum, FuboTV, Philo, and Verizon Fios.
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