The remnants of the Chinese rocket are expected to collapse and explode on the ground without any control this weekend.
It is not yet known where or when exactly the rocket remains will explode.
The rocket by the name of Long March 5B was launched in late April to carry China’s first spacecraft to become a space shuttle in the near future to the Earth’s orbit.
The rocket’s body is now orbiting the earth and is about to enter the atmosphere.
As of Thursday, the United States had said it was tracking the ship’s route but had no plans to drop it.
“We hope it will fall into a safe place without harming anyone,” said US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. “Our hope is that it will fall into the sea, or some other place like that.”
It also criticized China, although not directly, saying “it is important to make sure we take these factors into account when planning to operate”.
China’s state-owned media has in the past dismissed fears that it could explode on a residential area and said it would crash into another part of international waters.
The Global Times quoted expert Song Zhongping as adding that China’s remote space monitoring network would be closely monitoring the incident and taking appropriate action in the event of any damage.
What will happen?
The rocket is currently orbiting the earth’s surface, meaning that it is moving in orbit around the earth but is slowly being pushed down.
“Pushing it will slow down the spacecraft and reduce its distance and bring it closer to the atmosphere, which will lead to even greater impetus and slower pace,” Jason Herrin from Singapore’s world monitoring agency, told the BBC.
“Once the process is underway, the agency will be in the process of returning to the world only,” he said.
The rocket is expected to largely explode as the atmosphere continues to be heavier about 0 km from sea level. Parts that will not be completely burned will fall to the ground.
If all this continues unchecked, the area where the rocket will explode and where the rubble of the war falls cannot be controlled or predicted.
The Long arch 5B rocket launched in 2020, also had its body out of control and some of its remains exploded in a remote part of Ivory Coast.
China’s Aeronautics Agency has not commented on whether the rocket is controlled or whether it will land unchecked.
‘China hoped it would be lucky’
Astronaut Jonathan McDowell, of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Space Physics, said the issue of uncontrolled landing was one of “major problems with the Long March 5B rocket.
“The small American and European high-powered rockets also return uncontrollably (and explode completely) but the larger American and European missiles are formed in a system that cannot leave the earth’s crust; that is, they are safely dropped into space of the world circle, “he told the BBC.
“China decided it would use only a simplified structure and hoped that it would be fortunate that the vessel would return to the world without causing any harm.”
The return of a rocket from a remote control meant that the rocket could still be controlled by a team, for example through a rocket engine. The remains are usually directed to a specific area to explode in the middle of the ocean, far away from people.
That way, the path used by the instrument can be controlled and the return to Earth can be in the predicted area.
China’s distant space goals?
China’s Long March Rocket began its voyage on April 29 from China’s remote Wenchang space station
It carried what would become a permanent space station as part of China’s continued expansion of its operations in outer space.
Beijing’s plans were to have at least 10 such trips to carry all supplies around the world before the end of the facility by 2022.
China also plans to build a new center in cooperation with Russia. China sent its first astronaut into outer space in 2003.
