A Chinese rocket that put part of a new space station into orbit is now partially falling toward our planet. The big problem: the return appears to be uncontrolled and the location of the downtime is still unknown.
China launched the first unit of its new space station last Thursday. The 30-meter core missile and the so-called “Tianhe” unit on board were launched from the island province of Hainan in southern China. The part separation was successful.
Currently, the core of the so-called Long March 5B missile is hurling around Earth at speeds of more than 25,000 kilometers per hour (7 kilometers per second). According to ground control points, the missile will “flip” in space and thus out of control. Most space rockets travel at a much slower speed and return to Earth at a predetermined location.
Ocean
The core of the rocket – renamed 2021-035B – will eventually land on Earth, anticipating sometime in the coming days, due to the increased effect of gravity on the object. In May 2020, fragments of the same type of missile ended up in West Africa and the Atlantic Ocean.
On Various sites The missile’s current trajectory can be tracked and the calculated future trajectory around the Earth can be viewed. Although 70 percent of the Earth’s surface is made up of water, today a missile flies multiple times over North and South America, Africa and Asia. Starting tomorrow, the missile will also be launched over Europe, if it has not yet been destroyed in an unknown location.
The last space station should be able to house three Chinese astronauts at the same time. China wants the plant to be completed in 2022, when it will be 20 meters long.
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