Chinese Rocket Booster Gets uncontrolled and falls Into the Pacific Ocean 2nd time

November 07, 2022 By Jozeph P

(Image Credit Google)

For the second occasion this year, a Chinese rocket booster performed an uncontrolled re-entry into the atmosphere. On Friday, November 4, the U.S. Space Command reported that booster fragments from a Long March 5B rocket were making a re-entry and falling into the Pacific Ocean. Observers were concerned that the booster could have impacted anywhere from Northern and Central America to Africa or Australia, so it was fortunate that it dropped into the water and caused no damage.

#USSPACECOM can confirm a second atmospheric reentry correlated with the #PRC’s Long March 5B #CZ5B as it exited the #USSPACECOM Area of Responsibility over the Northeast Pacific Ocean region at 4:06am MDT/10:06 UTC on Nov. 4. https://t.co/keJdc1tmxi
— U.S. Space Command (@US_SpaceCom) November 4, 2022

There have been no reports of injuries as a result of debris from a previous Long March 5B rocket making an uncontrolled descent in July of this year, with some debris apparently landing near towns in Malaysia and Indonesia. This time, the booster came from a rocket that was used on October 31 to launch the third module of China's new space station. NASA officials have criticized the risk of letting uncontrolled rocket pieces fall through the atmosphere as being needless. According to the New York Times, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said, "It is critical that all spacefaring nations are responsible and transparent in their space activities and follow established best practices, especially, for the uncontrolled re-entry of a large rocket body debris — debris that could very well result in major damage or loss of life." PLUME : An intelligent rocket launches in house

PLUME : An intelligent rocket launches in house

Chinese officials maintain that an uncontrolled re-entry of the first-stage booster made by the Long March 5B rocket is safe because the majority of its parts burn up in the atmosphere. Experts disagree, stating that allowing these unrestrained descents to occur is reckless and deadly. Director General of the European Space Agency Josef Aschbacher stated on Twitter that "today's uncontrolled #LongMarch5B re-entry emphasizes the mounting risk for vital infrastructure both in space & on the ground posed by unsustainable spaceflight operations." The average annual mass of the roughly 100 major pieces of debris that have returned to Earth over the last ten years is 150 metric tons. To better track, forecast, and mitigate satellites and rocket bodies headed for uncontrolled re-entries, we must concentrate on technology. Spain had to briefly seal off portions of its airspace when the debris passed through it.

By Jozeph P

Journalism explorer, tech Enthusiast. Love to read and write.

Chinese Rocket Booster Gets uncontrolled and falls Into the Pacific Ocean 2nd time

Walmart's GenAI Search Engine: Challenging Google's Dominance in Retail Search

Introducing the MSI Claw Handheld: Your Ultimate Gaming Companion

Uber Increases In-App Ads, Prompting Mixed Reactions from Customers

Apple's iOS 18: A Leap into the AI Era

Google's Regular Pixel 8 Won't Get Gemini Nano AI

MacBook Air M3 Makes Amends for M2's Storage Blunder

Samsung Unveils the Galaxy M15 5G

Elon Musk's xAI to Open-Source Chatbot Grok

Contra: Operation Galuga - A Modern Run-and-Gun Classic

Musk Confirms X's TV App Arrives This Week

Astrobotic Reveals Time and Place of Peregrine Spacecraft Reentry

Spiral in the sky stuns Alaska dwellers

Hype Grows for SpaceX's Starship Orbital Flight Test, but Barriers Remain

Why are the astronauts' suits not white during takeoff?

In 2026, SpaceX's Starship will send a Rover the size of an SUV to the Moon.

NASA's DAGGER could provide early warning of the upcoming powerful solar storm.