China Says Its Rocket Debris Unlikely to Cause Any Harm - Space News
China Said that possibility of Earth being damaged by a rocket that fell out of orbit after separating from Beijing's space station was "very low."
Editorial Staff
China Says Its Rocket Debris Unlikely to Cause Any Harm - Space News
Most debris from a large Chinese rocket expected to plunge back through the atmosphere this weekend will be burned up on re-entry and is highly unlikely to cause any harm, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Friday. The Long March 5B rocket blasted off from China's Hainan island on April 29, carrying the unmanned Tianhe module, which contains what will become living quarters on a permanent Chinese space station. The location of the rocket's descent into Earth's atmosphere as it falls back from space "cannot be pinpointed until within hours of its re-entry", which is projected to occur around May 8, U.S. Space Command said this week. Speaking in Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said China was closely following the rocket's re-entry into the atmosphere, and that most of its components would be burned up upon re-entry. "The probability of this process causing harm on the ground is extremely low," he said. Debris from the Lo…
