Experts warn of the remains of a Chinese rocket through an “uncontrolled” reentry into the earth’s atmosphere. China only sees “hype”, wants to calm down. How great is the danger really?
Beijing (dpa) – China’s state media have rejected warnings of falling debris from a launch vehicle used to build the Chinese space station.
The fragments are “very likely to fall into international waters, and people need not worry,” wrote the newspaper “Global Time”, which often serves as an English-language propaganda organ, on Thursday, referring to space experts.
Western space experts had warned of possible debris due to an “uncontrolled” re-entry of the 20-ton main rocket stage into the atmosphere this weekend or Monday. Germany is unlikely to be in the risk zone, as the space residue office of the European Space Agency Esa in Darmstadt reported.
The area therefore covers every part of the earth’s surface between the 41st degree north and 41st degree south latitude. In Europe these include parts of Spain, Italy and Greece. The new, particularly stable rocket of the “Long March 5B” type launched the “Tianhe” (Heavenly Harmony) core module into space last Thursday. The young space nation began building its own space station.
The fact that the remains of rockets fall back to earth is “common in the aerospace industry”, wrote the “Global Times”. The paper saw behind the warnings “nothing more than Western hype about a” threat from China “” in space travel. Expert Wang Ya’nan, editor-in-chief of an aerospace magazine, was quoted as saying that China’s space agencies had carefully considered the evolution of falling debris, from the design of the rocket and choice of launch site to its flight path and altitude.
“Most of the debris will burn when it re-enters the earth’s atmosphere, leaving only a very small part that falls to the earth, which will potentially end up in areas far away from human activity or in the ocean,” said Wang Ya’nan . According to the “Global Times”, experts also stated that the rocket stage was built primarily from lightweight material that usually simply burns when it reenters.
In contrast, the Esa space debris office had announced that it was currently practically impossible to make predictions about which parts will survive reentry. Materials with high melting temperatures, such as engine or tank constructions, pose a particular risk. In general, however, most objects burned up completely on re-entry, according to the experts. Since a large part of the earth is covered with water and large parts are uninhabited, the risk for the individual is significantly lower than with everyday risks such as driving a car.
The astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts, warned that “in the worst case scenario” it could be like the crash of a small airplane that spreads over hundreds of kilometers. How many fragments will be left cannot be predicted. “But enough to cause damage.” Space expert Andrew Jones also warned of harm to people or property.
After the first flight of the new type of missile in May 2020, debris fell in the West African Ivory Coast and, according to local reports, had damaged houses. The US space agency NASA had described the process as “very dangerous” because the rocket stage had flown over the USA shortly before.
McDowell criticized the design of the new Chinese missile as “negligent”. It does not meet today’s standards. Other countries made sure that the majority of their missiles did not stay in orbit, but were brought into a trajectory so that they could be targeted into the sea. The “Langer Marsch 5B”, on the other hand, was built in such a way that it would enter the earth’s atmosphere about a week later due to the force of attraction at an “arbitrary place”.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210506-99-485913 / 2
