A large Chinese rocket booster that accidently started to orbit earth out of control this past week, luckily crashed in the Indian Ocean, next to the Maldives.
Thankfully before the crash, the majority of this popular booster rocket had already been destroyed as it re-entered the atmosphere.
The main source of speculation derived from social media, where many users were worried if the rocket might land in a populated area. A multitude of videos, tweets, and TikToks surfaced about the rocket after the situation was brought into popular media. The main source of concern was the debris hitting the individuals who were making this content. This of course was unlikely but if it were to happen, it would have resulted in many horrible casualties. China eased people’s worries by clarifying that the probability of this happening was very low.
Even though this story has taken the spotlight of many headlines over the past week, this venture was nothing new for China. The country is very ambitious and passionate about their space projects, and has put billions of dollars towards the research and endeavours.
The President of China, Xi Jinping has shown constant support behind the country’s astronautics over the years. He firmly believes in China’s success within the The Tiangong space station, which could be completed as early as 2022.
It is also rumored that China has been working on missions to Mars, and even potentially sharing a lunar station with Russia.
We are always learning, and science is always evolving; just thank your lucky stars that the ocean took one for the team this time around.
Sources:
The Indian Express : https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-why-a-china-rocket-crashing-in-the-indian-ocean-has-drawn-nasa-flak-7308454/