People in Brazil are examining debris believed to have belonged to a European spacecraft in 2014. Photo: Getty. Sea of ​​Japan (also known as East Sea) The phenomenon of space debris falling to the ground and causing damage was first recorded in 1969. That year, Japanese diplomats informed the United Nations of an unidentified object from space falling from space. down and collided with a Japanese cargo ship moving off the coast of Siberia (Russia). The collision seriously injured five crew members. Not long after, a Soviet ship at that time appeared to search for the wreckage. The Japanese official said the debris was identified by experts as part of a Soviet spacecraft. However, this information was initially kept secret by Tokyo because it did not want to create a conflict with Moscow, according to AP. Northwest Territories, Canada The danger of objects from space became apparent in 1978, when Cosmos 954, the Soviet Union’s atomic-powered satellite, crashed to Earth. The incident caused radioactive debris to be scattered throughout the Northwest Territories, Alberta, and the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. After the incident, the Canadian government organized a large-scale “Operation Morning Light” to search for tiny pieces of radioactive material that fell on the Arctic tundra. The cost for this campaign is nearly 14 million CAD (equivalent to 11.5 million USD). A fragment of the satellite Cosmos 954. Photo: United States Department of Energy. Canada demanded compensation from the Soviet Union at that time in the amount of 6 million CAD (equivalent to 5 million USD), but Moscow ended up paying only half of that amount. State of West Australia, Australia In 1979, Skylab – the first space station of the US Space Agency (NASA) – broke up while re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere. The incident caused a lot of debris to fall across the farm town of Esperance in West Australia, Australia. The Skylab space station was photographed by the last crew before it broke up on July 11, 1979. Photo: NASA. “It’s the most beautiful fireworks display you’ll ever see,” Brendan Freeman, a retired farmer, told ABC. The debris did not cause major damage, but for fun, the town of Esperance authorities wrote a $ 400 NASA fine for littering. NASA did not pay the fine, possibly out of fear of setting an unfavorable precedent. In 2009, a DJ in the city of Barstow, California (USA) called for fundraising and brought the fine to pay the town of Esperance. Lakeport, California, USA Early one weekend in 1987, a retired aircraft mechanic living in a town near Mendocino National Forest in northern California heard what sounded like gunfire outside his bedroom window. After searching, he discovered a scorched metal piece more than 2m long lying in the alley next to the house. An analyst with the US Air Force determined that the object was most likely a piece of debris dropped from a Soviet missile. This rocket has previously been seen flying across the sky while burning up and falling to Earth. “It’s interesting because things like that don’t happen around here very often,” Maggie Pickle, the mechanic’s neighbor, told the AP. Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA Lottie Williams holds up a piece of debris that hit her shoulder from a US Delta II rocket in 1997. Photo: Tulsa World. One morning in 1997, Lottie Williams was walking with friends in Tulsa City Park when she saw what appeared to be a comet streaking across the sky. This object fell on Mrs. Williams’ shoulder, but the impact was very light, almost without feeling. This object was determined by scientists to be most likely a fragment of a US Delta II rocket. The fragment was kept by Mrs. Williams as a souvenir. “I had to be very lucky for the debris to be so light. It was one of the strangest things that ever happened to me,” Williams told NPR in an interview years later. East Texas and Louisiana, USA, In 2003, the US space shuttle Columbia broke up while re-entering the atmosphere, killing 7 astronauts on board. In places where the debris of the shuttle hit the ground, temporary memorials were erected for the crew. People in rural areas along the Texas-Louisiana state border reported seeing debris from the ship falling into a water storage tank or through the roof of a dental office. Someone even tried to sell a fragment on the e-commerce site eBay for $ 10,000. In the end, 84,000 pieces of wreckage from the wrecked ship were collected after an extensive search in swamps, woodlands, and grasslands. These debris were used to rebuild the ship and determine the cause of the disaster. Ivory Coast In May 2020, another Chinese Long March 5B rocket also crashed to Earth. The rocket was initially thought to have landed in the Pacific Ocean, but some people reported hearing a sonic boom and seeing metal shards falling from the sky. This shows that some parts of the Long March 5B missile fell on the village of Mahounou, in Ivory Coast. China’s Long March 5B rocket launch in late April in Hainan province. Photo: Getty. However, there were no reports of human casualties after the incident. The discovery of a piece of pipe more than 12 meters long also seems to help this area get more attention. Grant County, Washington State, USA The most recent space debris incident occurred just over a month ago, when a rocket owned by private aerospace company SpaceX exploded over the Pacific Northwest. The explosion created a “show of light,” which some initially mistook for a meteor shower, according to The Verge. A piece of equipment from the rocket fell on a farm in Washington state, leaving a mark more than 12cm deep in the ground, The Verge reported. A similar object was also discovered by fishermen off the Oregon coast a few days later, but authorities have not confirmed whether this is debris from a SpaceX rocket.

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.

The scene of the launch of the Truong Chinh – 5B missile in Hainan on April 29 (Photo: Tan Hoa commune). According to the Hong Kong news site the East On May 9, China’s Office of Construction to put people into space on Sunday morning said that fragments of the end-propeller compartment of the Truong Chinh – 5B (CZ-5B) rocket launched by China from the Van Xuong launch site, Hainan will return to the atmosphere at 9:12 am on the same day (Hanoi time); the area in which it re-entered the atmosphere lies above 28.38 ° east longitude and 34.43 ° north latitude, in the Mediterranean sky. The European Union’s Center for Space Monitoring and Monitoring (EUSST) had previously predicted that the rest of the missile bay would return to the atmosphere at 2:32 a.m. GMT on Sunday (9:32 a.m. Internal on Sunday), with an error of adding or subtracting 139 minutes. According to EUSST, the probability of a missile fragment falling in densely populated areas is very low, but it can still happen uncertain due to the object’s uncontrolled. Thien Ha module of 100m3 capacity was launched by missile into space. American company Aerospace Corporation again stated that missile fragments will fall to the ground at 3:30 am UTC on Sunday (ie 10:30 am Hanoi time) with an error of plus or minus 4 o’clock. Actual drop times may vary. The Truong Chinh – 5B missile was launched into space by China on April 29 to bring the 100m3 Thien Hoa core module into orbit, this part will be the place for 3 astronauts to live and live on the Air Station. the Chinese Heavenly Palace. The launch of the core module is the first of the 11 missions required to complete the installation of a space station. The carrier was successfully put into orbit, but the rocket’s propulsion chamber lost control and fell back to Earth. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China, the fragment of the missile will catch fire when it enters the atmosphere, so the potential for harm is extremely low. The missile falls down (all brown parts and 2 support chambers) with the trajectory of the debris moving around Trac Dat. Black dot is the falling point predicted by Aerospace on May 8 (Image: UDN). However, there has been controversy surrounding the rocket’s falling back to Earth. The US Army Space Command said on May 4 that they “are closely monitoring and reporting to the public the location of the missile debris. It is currently impossible to determine where it fell to Earth. Asked during a press conference on May 6 whether the US shot down fragments of Chinese missiles, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said: “We expect it to fall where it will not cause it. casualties; hope it will fall into the ocean or the like “and said the US” has no plans to shoot it down “. During a press conference at the White House on May 5, when asked: “If the Chinese missile fragments cause harm to the US, will the US claim compensation,” White House spokesman Jen Psaki said: “No. it’s time to discuss this. We are tracking its position through Space Command and hopefully not in the end. ” “The US pays attention to solving the problem of space junk caused by increased activities in space,” she emphasized. The US hopes to cooperate with the international community to promote responsible behavior in the space. Photo of debris caught fire while crossing Italy on the night of May 8 (Photo: virtualtelescope.eu). Meanwhile, the Chinese side accused the Western media of overstating the fact that their missiles “lost control” and could cause great damage. According to the Reuters , sheet Global Times China’s claim that reports of the missile “out of control” and can cause damage are just “Western hype”. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs believes that the probability of harm caused by this process is extremely low. Mr. Uong Van Ban, spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on May 7, when answering questions from reporters during a regular press conference, said that international practice allows rockets to enter the atmosphere to throw and destroy. He said: “As far as I know, this missile applies a special engineering design, most of the parts will be worn out and destroyed during the return, potentially harmful to cargo operations,” he said. zero and above ground is extremely low; The relevant authorities will promptly notify the outside situation ”. The Chinese rocket propulsion chamber fell down before (Image: weibo). The Chinese side is very interested in monitoring the reintegration of the missile debris atmosphere, but declined to answer questions about where it was expected to fall, said Uong Van Ban; instead, he advised reporters to “consult the relevant agencies”. However, the National Aerospace Bureau of China did not respond to relevant questions from reporters Bloomberg . Since the US Skylab space station was out of orbit and crashed into Western Australia in 1979, most space programs have tried to avoid sending large missiles into orbit, because in this case Their return to Earth will be difficult to predict. According to the news of The Guardi This uncontrolled China Changzheng-2B missile compartment is 30 meters long, 5 meters wide and weighs 21 tons, it could become one of the largest space debris falling to the ground. Photo of Truong Chinh – 5B rocket propulsion compartment falling on May 6 (Photo: virtualtelescope.eu) This missile compartment is currently freely acrobatic around Earth, is about to enter the lower atmosphere, and is expected to fall uncontrollably down to Earth. Its orbital tilt is 41.5 degrees, meaning that areas of the Earth in the range from the north like Chicago, New York, Rome, Beijing, Hanoi and south to New Zealand, Chile are all on the Road moves and may fall. Although scientists expect that most of the debris will be burned and destroyed as it enters the atmosphere, there are still some that will fall to different places on earth, these parts include a metal and glass numbers have not been burned. Some scientists believe that it is irresponsible for China to let the missile debris return to Earth uncontrollably. “They (China) are responsible,” said Paulo Lozano, director of the Space Thrust Laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). They either did not provide enough information or did enough work during the design process to prevent the space object from returning uncontrollably back to Earth. I think that’s very important …. Hope they won’t fall on land, especially in public places, the consequences will be very bad. ” Lozano said that almost all missile launches in the US require a second stage. During this phase, the engine will restart to bring the missile back to earth in an area that does not have any. designated person. However, the Truong Chinh – 5B missile does not have this design. According to Jonathan Black, director of the Maritime and Aviation Systems Laboratory at Virginia Tech, the technology has been in use for the past ten years. Although the Truong Chinh – 2B missile was just launched in late April, its technology is still decades ago. Scientists speculate that the high cost may be the reason China is not adopting new technologies. The propellant compartment of the Chinese missile fell to Guangxi province before (Image: weibo). Harvard astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell criticizes China for being negligent in this regard, not letting objects heavier than 10 tons fall to Earth from space. He said potentially dangerous debris may not be completely burned when returned to the atmosphere at supersonic speeds, but the probability of falling into the sea is higher because 70% of the earth’s surface is covered by Ocean. However, Mr. McDowell told Reuters that it was still possible that missile debris could fall on the ground; can even fall in densely populated areas, like fragments of another Truong Chinh-5B rocket that crashed on Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) in May 2020, destroying many buildings, But luck did not cause any casualties. Follow the latest information from the page the East at 11:33 a.m.: The China Space Construction Office announced: fragments of the last compartment of the missile carrying Truong Chinh -5B returned to the atmosphere at 10:24 am. The fall zone was located at 72.47 ° east longitude and 2.65 ° north latitude over the Indian Ocean near the Maldives, most of the equipment was burned down during the reintegration of the atmosphere.