Part of a Long March 5B rocket launched by China on July 24 will make an uncontrolled reentry around July 31, according to the Aerospace Corp., an El Segundo, Calif.-based nonprofit that receives U.S. funding. The potential debris field includes much of the US, as well as Africa, Australia, Brazil, India and Southeast Asia, according to Aerospace’s forecast. Also read: Indian-origin professor is 1st Canadian to win global award for groundbreaking research Concern over the re-entry and the impact it could have is dismissed by China, however, with state-backed media saying the warnings are just “sour grapes” from people who resent the country’s development as space force. “The US is running out of ways to stop China’s aerospace development, so slander and defamation have become the only things left,” the Global Times newspaper reported, citing Song Zhongping, a television commentator who closely follows space. China program. “The US and Western media are deliberately exaggerating and exaggerating the ‘loss of control’ of Chinese missile debris and the possibility of injury caused by the missile debris, obviously with bad intentions,” Shanghai-based Guancha.cn news website said. . Tuesday. The descent of the booster, which weighs 23 metric tons (25.4 tonnes), would be part of what critics say is a series of uncontrolled crashes that underscore the dangers of China’s escalating space race with the US. “Due to the uncontrolled nature of its descent, there is a non-zero chance that surviving debris will land in a populated area – over 88% of the world’s population lives below the potential debris footprint of re-entry,” Aerospace said on Tuesday. In May 2021, pieces of another Long March rocket landed in the Indian Ocean, raising concerns that the Chinese space agency had lost control. “It is clear that China is failing to meet responsible standards regarding its space junk,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said that month. “It is critical that China and all nations and commercial entities act responsibly and transparently to ensure the safety, stability, security and long-term sustainability of activities in space.” Also Read: Can Space Junk Really Kill You? Scientists explain China’s most recent launch, which sent a module to the country’s space station, included a booster to get the spacecraft into orbit. That booster is now “dead” and beyond the control of the Chinese space agency, said Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist at the Center for Astrophysics, which is operated by Harvard University and the Smithsonian Institution. “The Chinese are right that the best bet is that it will fall into the ocean,” he said, although “there are a lot of populated areas” within range of the missile booster. More debris may fall to Earth later this year when China launches another Long March rocket at the space station, McDowell said.
