Annmarie Throckmorton, M.A.
- May 8, 2021

Space Junk Incoming

I am uncomfortable with the fact that the Long March 5B rocket, which carried the main module for China’s space station, is expected to crash to Earth on May 8, 2021.

"The US Space Command is tracking debris from the Long March 5B, which last week launched the main module of China’s first permanent space station into orbit. The roughly 30-metre (100ft) long stage would be among the biggest piece of space debris to fall to Earth. (underscoring added)

"The non-profit, federally funded Aerospace Corp has said it expects the debris to hit the Pacific near the Equator after passing over eastern US cities. The orbit covers a swath of the planet from New Zealand to Newfoundland. The US defence department expects it to fall to Earth on Saturday though where it will hit “cannot be pinpointed until within hours of its re-entry”, the Pentagon said."

...

"China’s space agency has yet to say whether the rocket is being controlled or will make an out-of-control descent. But the Global Times newspaper, published by the Chinese Communist party, has claimed the rocket’s “thin-skinned” aluminium-alloy exterior will easily burn up in the atmosphere, posing an extremely remote risk to people.

"Jonathan McDowell, astrophysicist at Harvard University, has predicted some pieces of the rocket will survive re-entry and that it would be the “equivalent of a small plane crash scattered over 100 miles”.

“'Last time they launched a Long March 5B rocket they ended up with big long rods of metal flying through the sky and damaging several buildings in the Ivory Coast,' he said.

“What’s bad is that it’s really negligent on China’s part. Things more than 10 tonnes, we don’t let them fall out of the sky uncontrolled deliberately.”

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/may/06/chinese-rocket-falling-crash-to-earth-saturday-china-space-station-long-march-5b-us-space-command

What a dud, does everything the Chinese make fail to work properly? My impression, as a forced consumer of Chinese products for much of my lifetime, is that much of the stuff that the Chinese slave factories turn out is defective, and the remainder is shoddy. When will they become responsible world citizens?