THE out of control Chinese rocket crashed back down to Earth following fevered speculation over where the 18-tonne object would come down.
Experts had warned it could reach “as far north as Chicago, New York City, Rome and Beijing and as south as New Zealand and Chile” – but where did it end up?
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Where did the Chinese rocket land?
The Long March 5B rocket safely plunged into the Indian Ocean at a point 72.47° East and 2.65° North in the early hours of Sunday morning.
The world watched on in fear amid concerns the rocket would hit a highly populous area after Chinese authorities lost the ability to control its re-entry.
But China’s space agency announced the rocket likely landed in the Indian Ocean, just west of the Maldives after most of its structure burned up when reentering the atmosphere.
It re-entered the atmosphere at 10:24am Beijing time.
It is unclear if any debris made landfall – a theory fuelled by US Space Command, who merely said it was “unknown if the debris [had] impacted land or water”.
They also did not confirm the landing spot reported by Chinese media, instead saying the rocket had “re-entered over the Arabian Peninsula”.
There have been no reports of injuries or damage so far.
Why was the Chinese rocket falling?
The Chinese authorities lost the ability to control the re-entry of the rocket that they deployed to launch the first module of their new space station.
The Long March 5B dropped into low Earth orbit and was circling the Earth before crash landing in the Indian Ocean.
Experts scrambled to pinpoint a location it was heading as it was one of the largest items in decades to have an undirected dive into the atmosphere.
The US had no plans to shoot it down, despite the potential of it hitting a highly populated area.
When did China launch the rocket?
On April 29, China launched the first of three elements for China’s first space station atop the Long March 5B rocket.
The launch was the first of 11 missions to construct and provision the space station.
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They will send up a three-person crew by the end of 2022.
China intended for the rocket to have a controlled re-entry to the Earth – until they lost the ability to do so.
It seems that it fell into an orbit, resulting in it falling in an unpredictable manner.
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On May 6, calculations of the rocket’s coordinates suggested it would fall in at least two days – and experts began tracking the debris from the spacecraft.
The country has faced international criticism for their “reckless” return of the rocket, despite slim chances that any person could be hit it.
“Spacefaring nations must minimise the risks to people and property on Earth,” US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement. “It is clear that China is failing to meet responsible standards regarding their space debris.”
