Chinese rocket debris could hit Portugal | Space
The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA March March) reached this Thursday a statement about a possible drop, between 30 and 31 of fall, of “up to 9 tons” of Chinese debris Long 5B (CZ-5B) on European territory. The space junk that could spread in a “control way” over an area about 2000 kilometers long and about 70 kilometers wide.
The trajectory of atmospheric debris re-entry may cover the airspace of Portugal, Spain, France, Greece, Italy, Bulgaria and Malta, although the final trajectory may only be known hours before the event, consult EASA. However, 70% of the planet’s surface is covered by land, it is important to mention the possibility of water coverage of any remaining parts as land is small.
This is not, by the way, the first time that the world has heard an alert of this kind. Despite the appearance, the event is far from unprecedented. Citing the most recent examples, on May 9, 2021 at 10:24 am (3:34 am in Lisbon), the first floor of another Long March 5B rocket re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere. An important segment of this Chinese rocket disintegrated upon re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere and the remains of the device did not fall into the Indian Ocean near the Maldives, causing any damage. And in May 2020, a year earlier, the remains of another Long March 5B were found in Ivory Coast.
This time, the Chinese rocket, launched on July 24, has an estimated mass that varies between 17 and 22 tons, “one of the largest pieces of debris that have reentered the atmosphere in recent years”, highlights the European agency, adding that the part of the rocket that will fall to Earth “may measure about 30 meters”.
Part of high elements of the atmosphere that reach the amount of elements by the Earth, which is enough to reach 20% of the atmosphere, which reaches the temperature enough to reach 20% of the atmosphere, which reaches 40% so that the large amount of fragment of the Earth is reached and 40% to reach the large amount of fragment and 40% it will reach. in the form of debris in an area about 2000 kilometers long by about 70 kilometers wide”.
US experts quoted by Reuters calculate that “9 tons of material can survive entering the atmosphere”. All that will be left is the propellant of the Long March rocket, which was launched on July 24 and which carried the second module of the Chinese space station Tiangong, which is currently under construction.
The most recent forecast, dated July 7, 222, predicts the re-entry of the Long March wreckage July 30, 20222 18:309:00 (UTC) [19h39 em Portugal continental] +/- 900 minutes at approximate latitude 39.1, longitude 148.9”, highlights the EASA statement.
Because it is an uncontrolled re-entry, “it is difficult at the moment to predict exactly a trajectory of debris and where on Earth it will fall. A more detailed forecast will only be available just hours before impact.”
The security agency has already issued a statement calling for a reference rocket attempt for a large space safety trajectory, one of which could affect southern European airspace.
The EA national regulations consider member countries and unit operators that “monitor the recommendation as more recent than the reference level for re-entry”.
These Chinese rocket launches are part of the missions launched to build and supply the future Chinese space station. When completed, possibly not late 2022, if deadlines are met, the Chinese Space Station is expected to weigh around 66 tonnes, considerably less than the International Space Station, which will weigh around 450 tonnes and for which the first module was launched in 1998