We re tracking it. We re following it as closely as we can. It s just a little too soon right now to know where it s going to go or what if anything can be done about that, a U.S. Space Command spokesman told reporters. Guo Wenbin/AP
toggle caption Guo Wenbin/AP We re tracking it. We re following it as closely as we can. It s just a little too soon right now to know where it s going to go or what if anything can be done about that, a U.S. Space Command spokesman told reporters. Guo Wenbin/AP
There s a giant Chinese rocket booster hurtling toward the planet, and no one seems to know exactly when or where it s going to land.
Space debris has crashed into Earth on a number of occasions, including last year.
The good news is that debris plunging toward Earth - while unnerving - generally poses very little threat to personal safety. As Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist at the Astrophysics Centre at Harvard University, said: This is not the end of days.
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In this photo released by Chinas Xinhua News Agency, a Long March 5B rocket carrying a module for a Chinese space station lifts off from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site.(AP)
Still, the episode has fuelled fresh questions about space debris, uncontrolled re-entry and what precautions might need to be taken, if any.
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Pieces of an out-of-control rocket will probably fall into international reports and people should stop “panicking”, according to local news reports.
In recent days, it has emerged that parts of the rocket are in orbit tumbling Earth, leading to fears that it could endanger people when it falls back down to the ground.
Those fears have been encouraged by the fact little is known about the rocket. The Chinese space agency remains relatively secretive about the debris, leaving observers with little way of knowing exactly where it might fall or how much might of it might survive re-entry.
Happy Wednesday and welcome to Overnight Defense. I'm Rebecca Kheel, and here's your nightly guide to the latest developments at the Pentagon, on Capitol Hill and beyond. CLICK HERE to subscribe to the newsletter.THE TOPLINE: The U.S. military's top general had a message for graduating ROTC cadets at Howard University on Wednesday: They will be a major part of institutional changes dealing with race in the military."It is your generation that.
Tumbling Chinese rocket expected to reenter atmosphere in next few days
By Travis Tritten Bloomberg,Updated May 6, 2021, 7:52 a.m.
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People watch a Long March 5B rocket, carrying China s Tianhe space station core module, as it lifts off from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in southern China s Hainan province on April 29.Photographer: STR/AFP
(Bloomberg) The Pentagon said it expects a tumbling Chinese rocket to fall out of orbit and re-enter the Earthâs atmosphere on Saturday, though officials say itâs too early to predict where any debris will land.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is being briefed regularly about the trajectory of the Long March 5B rocket core, which successfully put a portion of Chinaâs first space station into orbit last month, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters Wednesday. Yet while the rocket is being monitored by U.S. Space Command, Kirby said thereâs little the military can do about it at this point.