Over the Indian Ocean, a segment of a Chinese rocket disintegrates
Over the Indian Ocean, a segment of a Chinese rocket disintegrates
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Following weeks of speculation about where the 18-tonne object would crash, a large segment of a Chinese rocket re-entered the atmosphere and disintegrated over the Indian Ocean on Sunday, according to the Chinese space agency.

The freefalling segment of the Long March-5B rocket, which had launched the first module of China’s new space station into Earth orbit on April 29, had been deemed low risk by Beijing officials.

The last-stage wreckage of the Long March 5B Yao-2 launch vehicle reentered the atmosphere at 10:24 (0224 GMT) on May 9, 2021, according to the China Manned Space Engineering Office, which provided coordinates for a point in the Indian Ocean near the Maldives.

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It went on to say that during re-entry, the majority of the segment disintegrated and was destroyed.

The re-entry was also confirmed by Space-Track, a monitoring service based on US military data.

“Everyone else who is following the #LongMarch5B re-entry can take a deep breath. The rocket has landed “It sent a tweet.

Given that 70% of the planet is covered by water, the segment’s descent matched predictions made by some experts that any debris would splash down into the ocean.

Despite the low statistical chance, the uncontrolled re-entry of such a large object had sparked fears of damage and casualties.

Over the Indian Ocean, a segment of a Chinese rocket disintegrates
Over the Indian Ocean, a segment of a Chinese rocket disintegrates

Its orbits were being tracked by American and European space agencies, who were trying to figure out when and where it might crash.

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Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had stated that the US military had no plans to shoot it down, but that China had been careless in allowing it to fall out of orbit.

Another Long March rocket exploded in the Ivory Coast last year, causing structural damage but no injuries or deaths.

“An ocean reentry was always statistically the most likely,” astronomer Jonathan McDowell of Harvard University tweeted.

“China appears to have come out on top in this bet (unless we get news of debris in the Maldives). Nonetheless, it was risky.”

To avoid such scenarios, McDowell previously suggested that China redesign the Long March-5B.

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