Chinese Rocket Long March 5B To Fall Back Down To Earth

Commonly known as the Long March 5B, China’s largest rocket made an uninvited trip back down to ground level. 

The rocket, which weighs in at over 837,000 KG, was met with extreme friction during its exit from Earth’s atmosphere. Consequently, the loss of altitude has led to some parts exhibiting an expected fall back down.

The rocket’s core booster, which was orbiting Earth with no way for command teams to control it, is coming into question. The booster is ten stories tall (100 feet), so an object like that hitting a densely populated area could be catastrophic. 

Scientists and authorities summarized that most falling debris would likely be burnt up during re-entry, so any danger is unlikely. 

Similarly, there was a strong chance of the booster landing in the ocean. Statistically, this makes sense. Especially considering that the majority of Earth is water, this decreases the potential of it hitting a crucial area.

It was speculated that re-entry would occur between 41.5 degrees north latitude and 41.5 degrees south latitude. 

However, U.S Space Command then asserted something that people probably don’t want to hear: we won’t predict the location accurately until the rocket has re-entered successfully.

Part of this comes from how fast the booster is orbiting Earth. At a speed of 30,000 KM/hour, it becomes increasingly difficult for ground centers to keep up with any movements. 

Potential landing areas for the booster included Detroit, New York City, San Diego, and others. More likely, however, is that most of it will burn up upon re-entry and land somewhere in the ocean. 

Although nobody knew anything in actuality, every assessment quantified the same thing: a shallow risk of this debris causing a population hazard. 

Sure enough, debris mostly burned up upon entry to Earth on Saturday night, with any potentially negligible remnants landing in the Indian ocean/near the Maldives islands. No casualties or damages have been reported.