Chances of Chinese rocket debris hitting humans, damaging buildings very low: Agency
Published on: Saturday, May 08, 2021
By: Bernama
The Long March-5B Y2 rocket, carrying the core module of China’s space station Tianhe, takes off from Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan province, China April 29, 2021. (Photo: China Daily via Reuters)
Kuala Lumpur: The public is advised not to worry over reports of a Chinese-owned rocket, known as Long March 5B, making an uncontrolled re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere this weekend.
This, according to Malaysian Space Agency (MYSA), was because the probability of debris from the object hitting humans or damaging building structures was very low.
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The prediction was based on the fact that 70 per cent of the Earth's surface consist of water, apart from Malaysia's small size compared to the area of the Earth's surface.
In addition, MYSA noted that the exact location the rocket debris was expected to crash on re-entry was still not accurately predicted.
According to media reports, the debris is the main segment of the rocket.
"The latest prediction of the Long March 5B rocket debris falling to Earth is on May 7 between 9.34am and 3.34pm Malaysian time. The debris from the rocket is still orbiting and descending, approaching the 're-entry zone'," MYSA said in a statement.
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According to MYSA, each rocket launch will usually leave debris depending on the size of the rocket launched and since the size of the Long March 5B is quite large, the debris likely to crash to Earth would also be large.
However, MYSA said most of the segment will be destroyed by burning up in the atmosphere and shatter into small fragments and that only the fragments that are not completely burned will fall to the Earth's surface.
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As such, MYSA advised the public not to touch or pick up any suspicious objects or inhale vapors emitted from suspected debris from the crashing of the rocket.
MYSA also advised the public to call the 999 emergency line or MYSA at 03-26972570 and lodge a report if they witness any incidents and record them to assist in the investigation and not to spread any false information.
MYSA added that the Long March 5B was not the largest object to fall into the Earth's atmosphere, instead the previous record involved the Russian-owned Mir space station with a capacity of 120,000 kilogrammes (kg) on March 23, 2001.
In comparison, the residual weight of the Long March 5B rocket is expected to be in the 21,000 kg range and is only 1/5 of the weight of the Mir space station, according to the statement.
The Long March 5B rocket was launched on April 29 to send the core module of China's Tianhe space station weighing 22,600 kg into its operational orbit in space.
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