How dangerous is space debris when falling back to Earth?

The fact that Chinese rockets are about to fall back on Earth has caused many concerns, raising questions about uncontrolled space debris and what to be wary of when that happens.
The Chinese missile is about to lose control and is expected to fall into Earth’s atmosphere later this week. This has aroused unprecedented concerns.

However, up to now, there have been many times of debris falling from space on Earth, including an event that happened in 2020. Photo: CNN The good news is that the debris falling on Earth generally poses little threat to human safety. As Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Center for Astrophysics at Harvard University, told CNN: “It’s not the end of the world.” Even so, the issue still raises related questions about debris in outer space, how uncontrollably they fall to Earth, and what precautions should be taken when that happens. out? There have been many times of debris falling back to Earth Most of the debris would be burned in the atmosphere before having a chance to make any impact on the Earth’s surface. However, some large objects, like rockets, may remain intact when returned to Earth and are also likely to fall into populated areas. In 2020, one of the largest debris in space flew over the skies of Los Angeles and Central Park in New York City before falling into the Atlantic. This is an empty core from Chinese missiles, weighing nearly 20 tons, is the largest piece of uncontrolled trash when it fell back to Earth since 1991 and is the fourth largest piece ever. Other larger pieces are from NASA’s Skylab space station in 1979, the missile core of Skylab in 1975, and the Soviet Salyut 7 space station in 1991. The space shuttle Columbia from 2003 could also be included in the list. This is because NASA lost control of the ship when it returned to Earth. How many debris are floating in space? The answer is a lot. Above us there is a “cloud” of more than 9,000 tons of space debris – the equivalent of the weight of 720 school buses. This cloud contains hundreds of thousands – maybe even millions – of objects orbiting uncontrollably, including used rocket propulsion engines, dead satellites and debris from the army’s anti-satellite missiles. These debris are concentrated in the orbital regions closest to the Earth’s surface. And while it does not pose a significant threat to humans on the ground, it does pose a threat to many active satellites that provide a number of services such as climate tracking, studying Earth climate. Land and telecommunications service providers. These debris also threaten the International Space Station (ISS). The ISS station had to readjust its orbit several times last year due to space debris. “A few years ago, we had about 1,000 satellites in orbit, but now we have 4,000 satellites,” said McDowell. The tricky problem is that space transport experts do not have a complete map of the objects orbiting the Earth. Potential collisions are being tracked using government or private trackers on the ground, but the process is largely predictable. When will Chinese rockets return to Earth? The Long March 5B missile is expected to return to Earth’s atmosphere around May 8, according to Defense Department spokesman Mike Howard. Space Command is currently monitoring the missile’s path. According to Howard, the point of return to Earth’s atmosphere could only be accurately determined a few hours ago difficult to start falling back to Earth. However, Space Control Unit 18 will update the missile’s exact location via the Space Track website. Astrophysicist McDowell explained that determining where debris could fall to Earth is almost impossible at this point because the rocket’s travel speed can vary and with only 1 change. Very small is enough to greatly change the direction of the missile. “We expect it to return around May 8-10. During those two days, it will travel around the Earth about 30 times and at a speed of about 18,000 km / h “, according to Mr. McDowell. Still, the oceans are still the safest place for debris to land, as it occupies most of the Earth’s surface. Do people need to be on guard? There’s no need to be on guard, said Mr. McDowell. “The risk of it causing some damage or hitting someone is very small. It can still happen, but the chance of it hitting you is extremely small. I won’t waste a second worrying about it. Because there are still other bigger things to think about, ”said McDowell.