Another 21-ton Chinese rocket crashes to Earth

Yet another out-of-control Chinese rocket sparked concern – a year after one of Beijing’s spacecraft rained debris over the Indian Ocean.

Experts fear that part of the 21-ton Long March 5B rocket, which was launched into space on Sunday, may fail to burn completely as it re-enters Earth’s atmosphere.

Then it will fall to the surface in an uncertain location and at high speed.

Although the chances of debris hitting an inhabited area are very low, many experts think that China is taking an unnecessary risk.

The country’s newest rocket was launched from the Wenchang launch site in the southern island province of Hainan over the weekend.

The craft carries a new solar-powered laboratory, the Wentian experimental module, which will be added to China’s growing Tiangong Space Station.

However, experts worry that part of the rocket’s core stage could fall to Earth – in a repeat of China’s launch last May that saw debris strewn across the Indian Ocean.

At the time, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson accused China of “failing to meet responsible standards regarding their space debris,” including minimizing risks on re-entry and being transparent about operations.

But China’s runaway rockets have sparked concern – a year after one of Beijing’s spacecraft rained debris over the Indian Ocean.

Experts fear that debris from the 21-ton Long March 5B rocket, which launched into space on Sunday (pictured), may fail to burn completely as it re-enters Earth’s atmosphere.

WHAT IS TIANGONG?

China’s space station is called ‘Tiangong‘, which means ‘Heavenly Palace’.

Tiangong consists of several different modules which are launched one by one.

In April 2021, the core module, called ‘Tianhe‘, launched. The first crew arrived in Tianhe two months later.

In July 2022, Wentiana smaller module where research experiments will be carried out, is attached to Tianhe.

In October 2022, the second research lab module, Mengtian, will also be attached to Tianhe. When that happens, the Tiangong space station will be completed.

Two other spacecraft that can dock at the station – Shenzhou and Tianzhou – each carries crew and cargo, and is not considered part of the station itself.

China also plans to launch Xuntiana space telescope that will orbit the space station, in 2024.

The rocket’s first stage was shed during launch and will continue to circle around Earth over the coming days as it gradually falls back to the surface.

Experts say its flight path is difficult to predict due to fluctuations in the atmosphere caused by changes in solar activity.

Jonathan McDowell, an experienced tracker with the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, said US Space Command data showed the rocket’s first stage floated on its own.

“Core…inert stage remains in orbit and is not actively deorbiting,” he tweeted.

The problem with China’s rockets is rooted in the risky design of the country’s launch process.

Typically, the ejected rocket stage re-enters the atmosphere immediately after liftoff, usually over water, and does not enter orbit.

However, the Long March 5B rocket did.

China has previously rejected accusations of irresponsibility, with China’s Foreign Ministry saying the probability of damage to anything or anyone on the ground is “very low”.

Many scientists agree with China that the chances of debris causing serious damage are small, although others think launch designs like the Long March 5B are an unnecessary risk.

Last May, one of the country’s Long March rockets broke apart during re-entry over the Indian Ocean, north of the Maldives, leading to concerns that it can hit populated areas on land.

It ended up falling into the ocean, but Nelson still issued a stern statement saying: ‘Space exploration nations should minimize the risk to people and property on Earth from the re-entry of extraterrestrial objects and maximize transparency regarding such operations.

‘It is clear that China is failing to meet responsible standards regarding their space debris.’

In 2020, pieces from the first Long March 5B fell in Ivory Coast, damaging several buildings but causing no injuries.

The Tiangong space station, which is currently under construction, is seen in this artistic image

Wenchang Space Launch Center is a rocket launch site on Hainan island, China

Wentian, a research laboratory dedicated to science and biological experiments, has docked with the space station’s main body, called Tianhe.

This will be followed by a second research lab module, Mengtian, which will be launched in October this year.

As Mengtian clings to the rest of Tiangong, the space station’s construction will eventually be completed, although Beijing also plans to launch Xuntian, a space telescope that will orbit the space station together, in 2024.

Tiangong (meaning ‘heavenly palace’) will rival the aging International Space Station (ISS), operated by the US, Canadian, Russian, Japanese and European space agencies.

It will consist of three modules, although two other spacecraft – Shenzhou and Tianzhou – which carry crew and cargo respectively, can also dock at the station.

Upon completion, the Tiangong space station will weigh about 66 tons, much smaller than the ISS, which launched its first module in 1998 and weighs about 450 tons.

It is expected to have a minimum life span of 10 years.

CHINA INCREASES PLAN TO BECOME A SPACE FORCE WITH MARS AND MOON MISSIONS

Officials from China’s space agency are working to become a space superpower alongside the US and Russia.

They’ve sent the first lander to explore the far side of the moon – sharing photos of parts of our nearest neighbor that we rarely see as part of the Chang’e-4 mission.

In November 2020, they sent the Chang’e-5 spacecraft to the moon to collect and return the first sample of lunar soil in 45 years.

This was done in collaboration with the European Space Agency which provides tracking information for the Chinese spacecraft.

Chang’e-6 will be the first mission to explore the moon’s south pole and is expected to launch in 2023 or 2024.

Chang’e-7 will study the ground surface, composition, space environment throughout the mission, according to China’s space authority, while Chang’e-8 will focus on technical surface analysis.

China is also reportedly working on building a lunar base using 3D printing technology and sending future crewed missions to the surface.

Mission number eight will likely lay the groundwork for this as it seeks to verify the technology allocated to the project.

The CNSA is also building an Earth-orbiting space station where Chinese astronauts will conduct scientific experiments, similar to the crew of the International Space Station.

The agency also launched a mission to Mars in the summer of 2020 and landed a rover on the Red Planet in May 2021.

China is also said to be working on a project to build a solar power generator in space, which would radiate energy back to Earth and become the largest man-made object in orbit.

They also have a number of ambitious space science projects including satellites to look for signs of gravitational waves and an Earth observation spacecraft to monitor climate change.

#21ton #Chinese #rocket #crashes #Earth