Debris from Chinese rocket booster found metres from villages: Report
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The Chinese booster rocket made an uncontrolled re-entry into atmosphere on Saturday (July 30). The rocket was used to launch second of the three modules of Chinese space station Tiangong
The uncontrolled return to Earth of the Chinese booster rocket last week has been suspected to have cause debris that fell within metres form villages in Indonesia and Malaysia. According to a Malaysian news outlet, a burnt ring with diameter of about 5 metres was found in Kalimantan in Indonesia.
Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist from Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics said that the ring that fell in Kalimantan looked a lot like Chinese rocket's core stage.
"So, CZ-5B recap: signficant debris falls in Kalimantan, Indonesia and Sawarak, Malaysia (both on Borneo). No casualties or property damage reported, but debris is near villages and a few hundred metres, either way, could have been a different story," he tweeted.
So, CZ-5B recap: signficant debris falls in Kalimantan, Indonesia and Sawarak, Malaysia (both on Borneo). No casualties or property damage reported, but debris is near villages and a few hundred metres either way could have been a different story.
— Jonathan McDowell (@planet4589) August 1, 2022
The Chinese booster rocket made an uncontrolled re-entry into atmosphere on Saturday (July 30). The rocket was used to launch second of the three modules of Chinese space station Tiangong.
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Chinese space agency claimed that 'Most of its devices were ablated and destroyed during re-entry'
"The debris of the rocket caught fire while entering the Earth's airspace and the movement of the burning debris also crossed Malaysian airspace and could be detected in several areas including crossing the airspace around the state of Sarawak," it said
However, the re-entry attracted criticism from NASA.
NASA administrator Bill Nelson criticized Beijing on Twitter, saying the failure to share details of the rocket's descent was irresponsible and risky.
"All spacefaring nations should follow established best practices, and do their part to share this type of information in advance," Nelson wrote, "to allow reliable predictions of potential debris impact risk, especially for heavy-lift vehicles, like the Long March 5B, which carry a significant risk of loss of life and property."
(With inputs from agencies)
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