Pentagon on Watch as Out-of-Control Chinese Rocket Nears Earth Atmosphere Reentry
Space probe from the Tianwen-1 mission is launched by a Long March 5 rocket in July 2020. Photo by China News via Wikimedia Commons.
An out-of-control Chinese rocket is expected to reenter the Earth’s atmosphere on Saturday. And no one knows where it will land.
The Pentagon announced in a statement that it’s keeping an eye on a Chinese Long March 5B rocket, which launched a section of China’s new space station into orbit on April 28.
The rocket’s “exact entry point into the Earth’s atmosphere cannot be pinpointed until within hours of its reentry,” US Space Command announced in a Tuesday statement.
.@18SPCS is providing daily updates to @SpaceTrackOrg on China's Long March 5B location beginning today. https://t.co/f7FkNf1ixj #space #LongMarch5B #USSPACECOM
— U.S. Space Command (@US_SpaceCom) May 4, 2021
About 100 feet in length, and weighing some 22 tons, the rocket will be among the largest man-made objects to make an uncontrolled reentry into Earth’s atmosphere.
US Space Command is monitoring the rocket’s trajectory, the Pentagon said. The 18th Space Control Squadron is offering updates on the rocket’s flight path through the Space Track website.
China’s space station is set for completion in 2022.
Read Next:
Fort Bragg shed its Confederate namesake Friday to become Fort Liberty in a ceremony some veterans s...
It’s less than two weeks until Father’s Day, and last-minute gifts for Dad are harder to come by tha...
The Air Force announced the permanent location for many more U.S. Space Force units Wednesday — and ...
Who exactly was Gen. Curtis LeMay? And how did he become the commander who razed more than 60 Japanese cities during World War II?
President Joe Biden has nominated a highly decorated Marine officer who has been involved in the transformation of the force to be the next Marine Corps commandant.
When the USS Arizona sank, it took 1,177 crew members with it. Today it remains beneath the water as a memorial to all those who lost their lives at Pearl Harbor.
A pair of U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancer bombers flew low over Sarajevo and several other Bosnian cities...
Lockheed Martin’s SR-71 Blackbird was a government secret for years. Now retired, a newer version plans to take its place.
