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.

Space Station Skylab was launched by the US Aerospace Agency (NASA) in 1973. The agency had planned Skylab to operate for at least 10 years, but that did not happen. The sun radiates more energy than expected, increasing Skylab’s pull back to Earth. Image: NASA . On the night of July 11, 1979, Skylab returned to Earth and exploded over the Indian Ocean, west of Australia. Debris from the 85-ton space station is scattered across fields and small towns. Although no one was injured, the town of Esperance (Australia) fined $ 400 to NASA for littering. However, this agency does not pay. Until 2009, a new radio station in California (USA) paid this fine. Photo: State Library of Western Australia. Not only Skylab, there have been many instances where objects from space fell uncontrollably down to Earth. November 10, 2013, satellite GOCE The European Space Agency (ESA) caught fire and plunged into the Atlantic due to running out of fuel a month ago. According to the Space , GOCE is used to map the Earth’s gravity. Previously, scientists were concerned that the 1-ton satellite could fall to the mainland. Image: Space . Atmospheric Research Satellites (UARS) was launched by NASA in September 1991 with space shuttle Discovery to analyze the Earth’s ozone layer. In December 2005, a satellite weighing 6.5 tons, worth $ 750 million, was stopped by NASA before it fell to Earth in September 2011. While most of the satellites were burned, the remaining 532 kg of UARS fell to Canada, Africa, parts of the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans. Image: NASA . NASA launches satellites Pegasus 2 weighed 11.6 tons in 1965 to study asteroids orbiting the Earth. The data was sent back to NASA by Pegasus 2 for about 3 years, then kept on orbit for 11 years. On November 3, 1979, the satellite returned to Earth and then exploded, debris plunging down the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Image: NASA . Operated for 9 years from 1971 to 1982, Salyut 7 is the last space station in the Salyut program of the Soviet Union. On February 7, 1991, the 22-ton space station lost control, crashing to Earth after a period of time out of orbit while still connected to the Cosmos 1686 spacecraft. Both burned and exploded in the sky. Argentina, some fragments found in Capitan Bermudez region, no human casualties have been reported. Image: Space Age . On February 1, 2003, space shuttle Columbia exploded in the sky above Texas (USA) when returning to Earth, killing 7 astronauts. Investigations revealed that 82 seconds after the 100-ton ship took off, an insulating foam fell onto the carbon fiber board, puncturing the hull and damaging the body temperature protection while it was in service. speed 28,968 km / h. Although no one on the ground was injured, the Columbia event marked the second deadliest disaster in NASA’s space shuttle program. Image: NASA . Cosmos 954 , the secret satellite of the Soviet Navy used to spy on US nuclear submarines, launched on September 18, 1977 lost control. On January 24, 1978, a 3.8-ton satellite crashed northwestern Canada, causing radioactive debris to scatter over a large area. The Government of Canada asked the Soviet Union to pay $ 6 million for the search and cleanup campaign, but this country only accepted to pay $ 3 million. Image: NASA . On July 27, 2016, a boosters Long March 7 (Truong Chinh 7) China’s free fall, exploding in the American western skies. The image of a missile-generated light trail in the sky is widely shared on the Internet. The Long March missile chain is part of China’s plan to build an outer space station. Image: Matt Holt . Space Station Tiangong 1 (Heavenly Palace 1) China exploded over the southern Pacific on April 1, 2018. The 8-ton space station was launched in 2011, receiving 2 crew from 2012-2013 before completing the mission. In March 2016, China lost contact with Tiangong 1, allowing the space station to fall freely due to the gravity of the Earth. Image: CMSA . SpaceX’s test missile explodes again when it lands on the launch pad SpaceX’s Starship SN9 rocket landed and exploded on 2/2. This is the first phase prototype of a reusable rocket line that will help send people to Mars.