The largest missile center in China is falling out of control in orbit, after it carried part of the new space station into space last week. The object is expected to fall to Earth during an “uncontrolled re-entry” on May 8 or 9. Whether it falls harmlessly into the ocean or affects the land where humans live, the reason the Chinese space program allows this to happen is – again – unclear. And given China’s planned launch schedule, it is entirely possible that such uncontrolled re-imports continue to occur. Missile Truong Chinh 5B in a launch in 2020. (Photo: Xinhua) The China space program has a series of major spacecraft achievements over the past six months, including bringing back lunar rocks and sending spacecraft into orbit around Mars. However, the programs seem to continue to pose a small, though small danger to people across the planet without control of the path of the launched missile. Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist at the Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts, who tracks objects in space, says: “I think it was their negligence. I think it is irresponsible. The uncontrolled drop is the reinforced core of Truong Chinh 5B, designed to lift large, heavy sections of the space station. For most rockets, the lower layers typically fall back to Earth shortly after launch. The upper layers, when they reach orbit, often reactivate the engine (after releasing the load), directing them to re-enter deserted areas such as the oceans. For the past three decades, only China has lifted layers of such large rockets into orbit and let them crash somewhere, said Dr. McDowell. “It is a technical decision based on possibilities.” He said that Chinese engineers were able to design the trajectory of the rocket so that it would remain in orbit, fall back to Earth shortly after launch, or they might have planned to activate the booster. fig to get it out of orbit in a non-dangerous way. Ted J. Muelhaupt, director of the Center for Orbital Research and Aerospace Debris re-entry, says: “The reintegration design cannot be taken lightly, it’s something the world as a whole has done because we need it.” As for Truong Chinh 5B reinforcement, it could be anywhere between 41.5 North latitude and 41.5 South latitude. That means Chicago, located further north, is safe, but big cities like New York could suffer. On May 6, Aerospace Corporation, a federally funded nonprofit that conducts research and analysis largely, predicts the re-entry will take place on May 8 at 11:43 p.m. Eastern time (10:43 p.m. 9/5 Vietnam time). If that is correct, the debris could fall to Northeast Africa, in Sudan. The timing uncertainty – a 16-hour fluctuation – and location are still large. A day ago, Aerospace predicted the re-entry site an hour in advance in the Eastern Indian Ocean. The calculations are complicated by many factors, for example, the sun. The increase in the intensity of the solar wind – charged particles sprayed by the sun – will inflate the Earth’s atmosphere, increasing its force on the object and increasing its rate of fall. The movement of the object also affects. The US Space Command and the Russian space agency are both monitoring the missile division. The Russian statement noted that the re-import will not “affect the territory of the Russian Federation” . The US agency meanwhile promised to update it regularly before the event was likely to take place. Currently the object is moving at a speed of about 29,868 km / h, so prediction of position also changes with each minute. China plans to launch several more launches in the coming months as the construction of its third space station is completed, known as the Heavenly Palace, or “palace in the sky”. That would require additional flights of giant rockets and the possibility of more uncontrolled re-imports leaving people on the ground anxious to follow, even when mishaps from single parts. very small. Jen Psaki, White House press secretary, said on May 5: “For the mutual benefit of all nations, it is necessary to act responsibly in space to ensure the safety, stability, security and long-term sustainability of space activities”. America hopes to push “Responsible spatial behavior”.

Qian was born when the last Chinese dynasty was about to be replaced by a republic. From a young age, Qian was gifted and eventually, he graduated with distinction from Shanghai Jiaotong University, winning a rare scholarship from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in America. Qian Xuesen (Precursor of Ginseng) From MIT, Qian moved to the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), studying under one of the most influential Hungarian aeronautical engineers named Theodore von Karman. There Qian shares his office with another famous scientist, Frank Malina, who is a key member of a small group of innovators known as the Suicide Squad. Fraser MacDonald, author of “Escape from Earth: A Secret History of the Space Rocket”, said the group earned the nickname for its efforts. of them in building a rocket on campus and because of some of their experiments with volatile chemicals. At that time, rocket science was considered by MacDonald as “a tool of reelers and fantasies. No one takes it seriously – no mathematic engineer has risked their reputation in saying this is the future. But, that quickly changed when World War 2 began. The “suicide squad” attracted the attention of the US military and was funded for research on a jet-assisted takeoff method, where the boosters were attached to the wings of aircraft so they could fly. overhead from short runways. Military funding also helped establish the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in 1943, with its director, Theodore von Karman. Qian, along with Frank Malina, is at the center of the project. Qian is a Chinese citizen but the ROC is an ally of America, so “there is no great doubt that a Chinese scientist is at the heart of America’s space effort,” said Fraser Macdonald. Qian is licensed to work in the classified weapons research department and even served on the US Government Scientific Advisory Board. At the end of the war, Qian was one of the foremost experts in jet engines and was sent with Theodore von Karman on an extraordinary mission to Germany, serving as a temporary lieutenant colonel. Their goal was to interview Nazi engineers, including Wernher von Braun, Germany’s top missile scientist. America wants to find out exactly what the Germans know. But, by the end of the decade, Qian’s sparkling career in America suddenly stopped. In China, Chairman Mao Zedong proclaimed the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. Meanwhile, a new JPL director believed there was a spy group at the laboratory and shared the suspicions. about a number of employees with the FBI. It is in this atmosphere that the FBI accuses Qian, Frank Malina and others of threats to national security. The allegations against Qian are based on 1938 US Communist Party documents that show Qian attended a social gathering that the FBI suspected was a meeting of the Communist Party of Pasadena. Zuoyue Wang, a history professor at California State Polytechnic University, claims there is no evidence that Qian ever spied for China or was an intelligence agent while he lived in the US. However, Qian was stripped of his security passport and placed under house arrest. Caltech colleagues, including Theodore von Karman, wrote to the government pleading for Qian’s innocence but to no avail. In 1955, after Qian was under house arrest for five years, President Eisenhower decided to expel him to China. The scientist left by boat with his wife and two children born in America. Qian told reporters he would never set foot in America again and that he kept his promise. When he arrived in the US, Qian had very little knowledge of rocket science. But, 15 years later, he oversaw the launch of the first Chinese satellite into space. For decades, Qian trained a new generation of scientists, and his work laid the foundation for China to send people to the Moon. While most Americans know nothing about Qian and his role in the US space program, Tianyu Fang said many Chinese Americans and Chinese students in the US knew about him, why he had to leave. and they see similarities today. “US relations with China have become so much worse that they know they could be suspected of being like Qian’s generation,” Fang commented. In Fraser MacDonald’s view, Qian’s story is a warning about what happens when knowledge shredding. “The whole story of American science is that it was driven by people from outside.” MacDonald believes that JPL’s contribution to the American space program was far ignored compared to Wernher von Braun and other German scientists, who were secretly arriving in America shortly after von Karman and Qian’s visit. Braun was once a Nazi but his achievements are recognized. Whereas the achievements of Qian and others from the JPL are not. Qian’s life lasted for nearly a century. During that time, China has grown from an uneconomical country into a superpower on Earth and in space. Qian is part of that transformation. But, Qian’s story can also be a great American one – where talent can flourish wherever talent is found.