It sounds like a movie, but it's not: The Pentagon said yesterday that it is tracking a large Chinese rocket that is out of control and expected to re-enter Earth's atmosphere this weekend. US Space Command is tracking its trajectory, Defense Department spokesman Mike Howard said in a statement to CNN and expects the Chinese Long March 5B rocket to appear "around May 8."
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Howard said the rocket's exact entry point won't be known until a few hours before reentry, but that daily updates on its location will be provided on the Space Track website.
And Aerospace.org is tracking the rocket, and as of Tuesday afternoon, it was predicting that the arrival would be May 8, at around 9:30 p.m. PT – though predictions are subject to change.
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But don't panic. Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist at the Center for Astrophysics at Harvard University, told CNN "the chances of the missile hitting you are incredibly small."
Because the Pacific Ocean covers so much of the Earth, debris from the Chinese missile will likely be found in Pacific, he said.
McDowell also adjusts the time period in which the debris is expected to reach Earth, saying it will be between May 8 and 10.
The rocket helped launch Tianhe, the core module of China's new next-generation space station, on April 28. The space base is scheduled to be completed in late 2022 to serve as a scientific research center for China over the next decade.
See also: China: Successfully launched its first rocket to Mars!
In 2018, similar events occurred when China's uncontrolled Tiangong-1 space station re-entered Earth near Tahiti. Fortunately, no one was injured.
Information source: cnet.com
