Uncontrolled Chinese rocket: where and when it could hit Earth

the chinese rocket Long March B5 continues to travel out of control space and its possible descent to Earth it is followed by all the biggest space organizations in the world because it is afraid it will strike somewhere where it causes damage.

the Chang Zheng 5B (CZ-5B or “Long March” B5) was released on April 28. However, this heavy class carrier rocket and its central stage, which weighs 18 tons, fell out of orbit after splitting from the Beijing space station Yes It has no means of navigation, so it is expected to fall to Earth in the next few days.Although we do not yet know where or when exactly.

To try to give an approximation, the head of the russian space agency Roscosmos, Dmitry Rogozin, he tweeted a map of the Earth showing possible crash zone in the center of the Long March B5 stage, the agency consigned Sputnik News.

I followed the journey of the Chinese rocket Long March 5b live: when does it pass over Argentina?

In all cases, it should be noted that a more precise calculation this will only be possible when the a rapidly rotating section of the rocket enters the atmosphere, about 24 hours before it hits Earth.

In this sense, according to the estimates of European Space Agency (ESA), the impact zone currently excludes northern United States, Canada, most of Europe, Russia, and most of Central Asia. However, in the category of high risk it is found Beijing, parts of Spain, Italy and Greece, New York State, southern Chile and the New Zealand city of Wellington.

Specialists will only be able to predict the crash zone more accurately after the object has entered the Earth’s atmosphere, which is expected on the 8th. May. Based on existing predictions, part of the rocket structure will burn in the dense layers of the atmosphere, although non-combustible structural elements may strike the earth’s surface.

On your side, The United States has said it has no plans to bring down the rocket out of Chinese control and rush to Earth. “We have the capacity to do a lot of things, but we don’t have a plan to bring it down yet,” said the Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

The experts of Pentagon expect the Long March B5 rocket, which fell out of orbit after separating from the Beijing space station, falling to the surface between Saturday and Sunday. But it is difficult to predict when and where it will fall.

Drifting rocket: even the Pentagon worries about the 5B Long March

“We have the hope he falls in a place where he doesn’t harm anyone. Hope in the ocean, or somewhere like that, ”said Austin, who alluded to a negligence on the part of China by letting the body of the rocket come out of its orbit.

In this sense, he said: “I think this speaks to the fact that, for those of us who operate in the space business, there are (security) requirements, or there should be a requirement of operate safely and thoughtfully. ” We have to “make sure that we take these kinds of things into account when we plan and conduct operations” in space, he added.

I followed the trajectory of the rocket around the planet live

ED