Chinese rocket debris expected to crash onto Earth this weekend
China's space agency has not made any comment on whether the rocket is being controlled, or if it will make an uncontrolled descent, say reports.Astronomer Jonathan McDowell, of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, said the issue of a uncontrolled re-entry is one that is "only a big problem with the Long March 5B".
"China decided they would rather use a simpler design and hope that they get lucky with the stage re-entering uncontrolled but not hurting anyone."A controlled re-entry would have meant that the rocket can still be controlled by the launch team, for instance via the rocket engine or small thrusters. The debris would usually be steered towards a specific crash site in the middle of the ocean and away from people.
Usually, this would be in what is called the oceanic pole of inaccessibility - the furthest place from land in the South Pacific, between Australia, New Zealand and South America.
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