The remains of the rocket carrying the Mengtian laboratory of the Chinese space station and whose remains have fallen uncontrollably to Earth finally impacted our planet this Friday at 10:01 am European time, the US Department of Defense reported on Twitter.
Since China launched the rocket on October 31, surveillance systems American (USSPACECOM) and European (EUSST) observed with radar and sensors the reentry of CZ-5B into the atmosphere, the central part of the rocket, a piece of space junk weighing 23 tons and 30 meters in length.
The object, one of the largest to return to Earth’s atmosphere in recent times, has been in orbit around the Earth and has flown over Spain several times in its trajectory. There, for safety, this Friday There have been flight disruptions.
It is normal for debris to fall to Earth after the launch of space missions but not that big.
For this reason, in recent days, EUSST (project coordinated by the Spanish CDTI) and USSPACECOM have not stopped exchanging data to try to estimate the point and moment of impact.
At 4:00 “there was a possibility that the object would fall into Spanish territory” and, for this reason, it was decided to limit air traffic in some Spanish airports, the head of the Space Department of the Center for Industrial Technological Development (CDTI), Jorge Lomba.
Spain was the first European country to make this decision, followed by France, Cyprus and Portugal, which also suspended air traffic for more than an hour between 8:38 and 9:38 in the morning.
For one thing this morning, he was out of the question the object could fall in Europe and air traffic restrictions have been lifted, commented the head of the CDTI. Finally, the remains of the Chinese rocket They fell into the Pacific Ocean.
It is not the first time that the space surveillance and monitoring networks of Europe and the United States They track down the remains of a Chinese rocket.
Last July, agencies around the world were waiting for the return of the Long March 5B, weighing 20 tons and traveling uncontrollably at 28,000 kilometers per hour, and in May 2021 another Long March 5B rocket placed surveillance services around the world on alert. finally fell into Indian Ocean without causing damage.
With the arrival of the Mengtian module, the Chinese space station – whose name means “Heavenly palace” in Mandarin – is now complete and should run for about 15 years in orbit 400 kilometers from Earth.
In 2024, it is likely to become the only space station in the world if the International Space Station is withdrawn that year as planned. EFE
Source: Clarin
