News by Niamh Cavanagh,The Sun 8th May 2021 11:46 AM Debris from a Chinese rocket is expected to fall back to Earth in an uncontrolled re-entry this weekend. But where is the rocket now? Here is everything you ll need to know. The Long March 5B rocket has dropped into low Earth orbit and there is a high risk of it crashing back down. The European Space Agency said that it expects the re-entry to occur at 3:15am, UTC, which is 1.15pm Saturday AEST. The agency claims that there is a window of 9 hours and 25 minutes - meaning it could happen either Saturday evening or Sunday afternoon. The 21-ton booster launched part of China s first space station last week.
A huge 18-ton chunk of China s Long March space rocket is now set to land in the Pacific - but predictions are changing by the minute as it hurtles towards Earth.
The latest estimates project re-entry will take place early on Sunday morning, with most agencies predicting it will emerge between 2am and 4am UK time.
The Aerospace Corporation says the rocket will arrive at around 2.11am UTC, with the European Union’s Space Surveillance and Tracking team estimating 2.30am.
Space-Track agrees, saying the Long March fragment should arrive within hours.
The rocket s path is too unpredictable to pinpoint exactly where it will crash, but recent forecasts have suggested it may fall in the Pacific Ocean.
News by Niamh Cavanagh,The Sun 8th May 2021 11:46 AM Debris from a Chinese rocket is expected to fall back to Earth in an uncontrolled re-entry this weekend. But where is the rocket now? Here is everything you ll need to know. The Long March 5B rocket has dropped into low Earth orbit and there is a high risk of it crashing back down. The European Space Agency said that it expects the re-entry to occur at 3:15am, UTC, which is 1.15pm Saturday AEST. The agency claims that there is a window of 9 hours and 25 minutes - meaning it could happen either Saturday evening or Sunday afternoon. The 21-ton booster launched part of China s first space station last week.
Watch Live As Falling Chinese Rocket Long March 5B Hurtles Back to Earth This Weekend
On 5/7/21 at 6:28 AM EDT
The Chinese Long March 5B rocket currently falling back to Earth from space is expected to land sometime this weekend, 16 hours either side of 11:43 p.m. EDT, Saturday May 8, according to Aerospace.
The federally funded research organization develops tools for studying atmospheric re-entry breakups and modeling debris objects in space.
The rocket has made headlines over the past week because scientists are still unsure exactly where it will re-enter the Earth s atmosphere.
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This, coupled with the rocket s about 100-foot length and weight of around 20 tons, has given rise to concerns that some of its debris will not burn up on re-entry and could impact the planet s surface. It is thought to be orbiting around the planet at about 18,000 miles per hour.
The rocket launched the first module of the Chinese space station into orbit
It achieved orbit itself and is travelling around the Earth every 90 minutes
This low orbit means it will gradually fall back down to Earth at some point
Experts predict it will re-enter between 15:00 and 08:00 BST on Saturday
Chinese authorities say it will likely burn up in the atmosphere on re-entry