Chinese rocket: I followed the trajectory of the Long March 5b live

Chinese rocket Long walk 5b It is out of control and ready to return to Earth’s atmosphere starting next Saturday in a location that – so far – is unknown, according to the Pentagon. In an effort by the Asian country to become a power in the space realm, China launched the first spacecraft last Thursday of Wenchang, Hainan province, at the start of construction of a new station.

The White House press secretary, Jen psaki, said today that the United States Space Command was “aware of and tracking the location” of the Chinese rocket.

On April 29, China launched the first module of its Tiangong space station which was successfully put into orbit. However, the rocket that took him there met the same fate: much of the Long March 5b spacecraft is now in faulty orbit and could – according to expert estimates – perform an uncontrolled re-entry to Earth to land. in a place. a stranger.

From NASA they specified that the trajectory of the vessel did not occur regularly and that they are now on alert for where their debris may fall, crash into and pose a threat. The Chinese rocket at around 27,700 km / h at an altitude of 300 kilometers, which makes it very difficult to know more precise data of the re-entry.

Although most space debris burns in the atmosphere, this device is so large – it weighs over 22 tonnes – that it has raised concerns among experts. If it has remained intact – the planet feels 70% water – there is a good chance that the rocket will fall into the sea, although it is not sure. It could crash into a populated area or onto a ship.

Against this backdrop, the 30-meter-high core of Long March 5B prepares for one of the largest uncontrolled re-entries in history since it was not designed to be steered, it therefore has no trajectory to fall into the sea at a predetermined point.

Is This is not the first time that China has lost control of a spacecraft upon its return to Earth.. In April 2018, a Tiangong-1 space laboratory disintegrated on re-entry into the atmosphere, two years after ceasing to function. Chinese authorities have denied the lab is out of control.

With information from more than a dozen databases and technology tools, the sitio Orbit.ing Now follows the Chinese rocket to make its trajectory public with estimates of speed and positioning.

Makes Click here to watch live.

With a takeoff weight of 22.5 tons, it is the largest and heaviest spacecraft built in China. The rocket’s center stage is estimated to be cylindrical with dimensions of 5 x 33.2 meters (16.4 x 108.9 feet) and a dry mass of about 18 metric tons (19.8 tons).

Aerospace Corp., a non-profit organization, estimates debris will fall into the Pacific Ocean near the equator, after passing through towns in the eastern United States. Its orbit covers part of the planet stretching from New Zealand to the province of Newfoundland, Canada.

The 18-ton rocket that fell last May was the largest piece of debris to crash out of control since the re-entry of the former Soviet space station Salyut 7, in 1991.

China’s first space station, Tiangong-1, fell into the Pacific Ocean in 2016 after Beijing confirmed it had lost control of it. In 2019, the space agency monitored the atmospheric demolition of its second station, Tiangong-2.

In March, debris from a Falcon 9 rocket launched by the US company SpaceX fell to Earth above Washington and on the coast of the state of Oregon.

AP, ANSA and AFP agencies

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