Un reported success, but unexpected fallout. On Sunday, China launched into space the second of three modules of its space station under construction, as evidenced by images from public television CCTV. The machine named Wentian, about 20 tons and without an astronaut on board, was propelled by a Long March 5B rocket from the Wenchang launch center on the tropical island of Hainan (South).
Almost 18 meters long and 4.2 m in diameter, this laboratory module will dock at Tianhe, the station’s first module, which has already been in orbit since April 2021. The operation is a challenge for the crew, as it requires several high-precision manipulations, some of which with a robotic arm. But a week after the launch, the US Space Command, a US command responsible for space operations, has concerns about the rocket that powered the module.
According to CNN, they estimate that this rocket, heavy of about twenty tons, has now escaped China’s control and could fall back towards Earth this weekend or early next week. An estimate, still broad, predicts a drop between the latitudes of 41 degrees south and 41 degrees north of the equator, in other words, France will not be affected, but the area includes a very large part of America and the Australia, all of Africa, southern Asia and southern Europe. This estimate will be more accurate when the rocket approaches our atmosphere.
Very low human risk
Michael Byers, a professor at the University of British Columbia, estimates that large enough pieces will “reach the surface”. The human risk is, according to him, almost zero, “because there are now special technologies and missions intended to ensure controlled returns to the atmosphere (generally in remote places in the oceans) rather than uncontrolled and totally hazardous returns. “.
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The concern of the US Space Command is all the more justified since the same problem occurred in May 2021, with the Long March 5B rocket which had propelled the first module of the Chinese station. After an uncontrolled entry into the atmosphere, most of the rocket had disintegrated over the Indian Ocean. The third and last module of the Chinese station should be launched by the end of the year.