NASA Director Nelson Was Correct to Criticize China
Commentary
After days of mounting frustration with China’s refusal to account for its out-of-control 21-ton Long March-5 booster stage, newly-confirmed National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Director, the former astronaut and Senator Bill Nelson, called out the Chinese regime with some needed criticism.
In a press release posted on the NASA webpage on May 8, Nelson stated, “Spacefaring nations must minimize the risks to people and property on Earth of re-entries of space objects and maximize transparency regarding those operations. It is clear that China is failing to meet responsible standards regarding their space debris.”
May 9, 2021
BOSTON (
WBZ NewsRadio) A rocket re-entry expert said the Chinese rocket booster that came down last night could have splashed down anywhere in a 5,000 mile stretch of the planet, and ended up crashing somewhere completely different.
Ted Muelhaupt is the Principal Director of Aerospace Corporation s Center for Orbital and Re-entry Studies. He said space debris like the booster on the Chinese Long March-5B Y2 moves so fast that there s only a tiny window of time for trackers to estimate where the debris is coming down. It s moving 7 kilometers a second, it s moving really fast. he said. That s about 15,500 miles per hour. The speed leaves the calculations with a huge margin of error, around 20%. The experts only had about 30 minutes to track where the booster would come down.
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Heads up! Pentagon tracking Chinese rocket booster as it falls back toward Earth
In this April 29, 2021, file photo released by China s Xinhua News Agency, a Long March 5B rocket carrying a module for a Chinese space station lifts off from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in Wenchang in southern China s Hainan Province. The central rocket segment that launched the 22.5-ton core of China s newest space station into orbit is due to plunge back to Earth as early as Saturday in an unknown location. (Ju Zhenhua/Xinhua via AP, File)
The Pentagon is tracking a Chinese rocket booster as it falls back to Earth washingtonpost.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from washingtonpost.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Posted: Apr 22, 2021 4:00 AM ET | Last Updated: April 23
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket lifts off from historic launch pad 39-A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S., February 6, 2018. With rocket launches increasing, there are calls for more research and cooperation on managing their environmental impact.(Thom Baur/Reuters)