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.

Chinese Truong Chinh 5B missile leaves its launch pad. According to this map, anywhere between 41 degrees North and 41 degrees South can be affected by the rocket’s debris. He said the boosters will enter Earth’s atmosphere as early as May 8. According to ROSCOSMOS, “a portion of the rocket will no longer exist in the dense gas layers of the atmosphere” but “individual non-flammable structural elements can reach the surface of the Earth”. Meanwhile, the Aerospace Corporation non-profit aerospace organization predicts, the time of the Chinese missile crashes to Earth will occur at dawn on 9/5 (international time), the error plus – minus in 28 hours. They also published a map of the potential impact area – relevant to the area provided by ROSCOSMOS. The Chinese missile’s orbital tilt is currently 41.5 degrees, meaning it could fall anywhere from the north relative to New York, Madrid and Beijing and as far south as southern Chile and Wellington. New Zealand, these are all regions with the highest population densities in the world. The ROSCOSMOS map shows the drop zone of the Chinese missile’s center. Speaking to the press, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin expressed his hope that the Chinese missile will fall into the ocean and it is estimated that it will fall between May 8 and 9. On May 6, Mr. Austin said at this time, the US has no plans to shoot Chinese missile debris that is expected to fall back into the atmosphere this weekend. Since the missile is traveling at an average speed of 7 km / s, it is difficult to predict where it will hit. US Department of Defense spokesman Mike Howard said the US Space Command was monitoring the missile’s trajectory. However, the US was only able to determine the exact point within a few hours before it fell. According to Howard, the 18th Space Control Squadron will provide daily updates on the missile’s position on the Space Track website. Ted Muelhaupt, an expert in space debris at the US-based nonprofit Aerospace Corporation, told ABC News that the central floor of the Truong Chinh 5B rocket was probably among 10 large objects. can fall to the planet into 1 piece. The bulldog has a central floor weighing 22 tons. China’s Long March 5B missile hull areas are likely to fall over the next few days. Photo: Aerospace Corporation According to SpaceNews, the 22-ton central deck of the Truong Chinh 5B missile is in a state of out of control and could fall to Earth. Instead of falling to the intended location at sea like the previous rockets, the central stage of the Truong Chinh 5B boosters began to rotate around the globe in China’s helplessness. On April 28, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) launched a Long March 5B booster rocket carrying a core module called “Thien Hoa” weighing 22.5 tons into space (part of the space station. Heavenly Palace). The launch went quite smoothly until the core of the missile suddenly deviated from its intended flight trajectory. It is known that the core layer of the body (weighing 19.6 tons, 30m long and 5m in diameter) is currently flying around in the LEO orbit at an extremely fast speed. According to a SPACECOM representative, the Chinese missile is currently flying at 162-306km above the ground, indicating that it has begun to gradually decrease altitude from 170-372km. Essentially the drag of the Earth’s atmosphere sooner or later pulls the upper missile body out of the LEO orbit, but with its erratic speed and trajectory it makes it possible to accurately predict the location and The moment the rocket will hit the ground becomes difficult.

The 21-ton core of the Chinese Truong Chinh 5B missile was taken on the night of 5/5/2021. Photo: Project Virtual Telescope According to the Daily Mail, the Italy-based Virtual Telescope (VTP) project captured the core of the missile, which looks like a bright spot of light as it crashes through their Elena robot telescope. Chinese rockets have caught international attention throughout the week as debris of the 21-ton vehicle is expected to fly back to Earth uncontrolled over the weekend, with the risk of landing in areas with residents. According to Italian researchers, the Truong Chinh 5B missile has moved “extremely fast”, as it soared through a distance of about 700 km above the VTP’s telescope. The Space.com site said that Gianluca Masi, the Virtual Telescope project’s astronomer who took the photo, wrote in the photo description: “At the time of the photo shoot, the rocket core was far from the telescope. Ours is about 700 km, while the Sun is only a few degrees below the horizon, so the sky is extremely bright, making it difficult to take pictures. captured this giant fragment “- Masi wrote in the description of the photo. “This is another brilliant success, demonstrating the amazing ability of robotic vehicles to track such objects,” Mr. Masi affirmed. On April 29, China launched a 5B Truong Chinh missile that carries the main module of its own space station into the orbit of the Earth. This module, called Thien Ha, is 16.6 meters long. Watch the video of China launching a rocket carrying module of the Tianhe space station on April 29: Space agencies and astronomers around the world are now closely monitoring the 5B’s trajectory in the hope of being better prepared for the moment it falls back to Earth. The latest information shows that fragments of this giant rocket are expected to fall back to Earth on May 8 and the US government has warned they could fall into populated areas. US Department of Defense spokesman John Kirby revealed the intended date of return to Earth’s atmosphere, but said the exact timing of that event was currently unidentifiable. Mr. Kirby said the government at this time “does not have enough information to be able to formulate specific plans”. However, he asserted that if there was information, they would share it appropriately.
The US Space Command is currently monitoring the Chinese missile as carefully as possible and giving daily updates to its position on the Space Track website. The Truong Chinh 5B Y2 missile carrying the Thien Ha core module was launched from the Van Xuong launch pad in Hainan province, China on April 29. Photo: THX Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist at Harvard University (USA) and a specialist in orbital tracking, notes that the core of Truong Chinh 5B is the heaviest object that has fallen out of control through the atmosphere in nearly three decades. century. Before breaking, this core had a weight of nearly 21 tons. The last time a heavier object fell out of control was 1991, when the 43-ton Soviet Salyut-7 space station crashed on Argentina. Mr. McDowell calculated that the core was about to fall to Earth 7 times heavier than the second floor of the Falcon 9 rocket, which burned in the sky of Seattle, about a month ago. If returned to the atmosphere at night, it could produce a similar light trail. Despite US Department of Defense concerns, many industry observers believe the situation is not to the point of causing panic. The risk of being hit by debris is extremely small, says analyst McDowell. Meanwhile, Mr. Song Zhongping – a Chinese aerospace expert – on May 5 said that the rocket fragments returned to Earth is completely normal. China launched the Truong Chinh 5B rocket in May 2020 (photo) to test a vehicle for a program to send people to the Moon. Photo: Daily Mail Wang Ya’nan – editor-in-chief of Aerospace Knowledge magazine – added that during the missile development, Chinese aerospace officials have carefully considered from the initial stage of missile design and selection. Select launch location, to launch status and flight trajectory. “Most of the debris will burn up during its return to Earth’s atmosphere,” Wang explained. Only a very small fraction can fall to the ground and is likely to fall into the ocean or areas far away from where humans are active. Since Chinese rockets are mainly made of lightweight materials, most will easily be burned during high-speed fall through the atmosphere. Besides, Truong Chinh rocket also uses environmentally friendly fuel, so once the parts fall into the ocean, it will not cause water pollution. According to Space, if there is debris damage, the United Nations Convention on Liability of the Outer Space Treaty states that the launching country “must bear full responsibility for damages. caused by their space objects on the Earth’s surface or to an aircraft, and are responsible for damage caused by its fault in space “. The only time this convention was invoked was in 1978, when a nuclear-powered Soviet satellite, Kosmos 954, spread radioactive debris across the Canadian Arctic, leading to a campaign. urgent cleaning and cost at least S $ 3 million in 1981 (equivalent to $ 7.5 million today).