The China Manned Space Agency advanced on the Weibo social network and the US Space Command confirmed on Twitter: the The Chinese Long March 5B rocket re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere on Saturday. Portugal was initially on its path, but since it was an uncontrolled fall, it was difficult to know precisely whether or not its debris would fall in a populated area. According to the US Space Command, the re-entry took place at 5:45 pm (Lisbon time) over the Indian Ocean.
China’s Manned Space Agency says most of the wreckage was destroyed when it re-entered the Sulu Sea, shared by Malaysia and the Philippines.
#USSPACECOM can confirm that the PRC’s Long March 5B (CZ-5B) re-entered over the Indian Ocean at approximately 10:45am MDT on 7/30. We refer you to #PRC for more details on the technical aspects of re-entry, such as potential debris dispersal and impact location.
— US Space Command (@US_SpaceCom) July 30, 2022
There are already several videos of the moment circulating on the internet.
China’s failure to share information has been criticized by NASA, the US space agency. All countries should share this kind of information ahead of time, Administrator Bill Nelson said, “to enable reliable predictions of potential debris impact risk, especially for heavy vehicles like the Long March 5B, which carry a significant risk of loss of life and property.
The Chinese Long March 5B booster was seen re-entering over Kuching, Malaysia. pic.twitter.com/s18CegTB5C
—TJ Cooney???????????? (@TJ_Cooney) July 30, 2022
In recent days, several projections of the re-entry of the rocket have been made, but, even on the eve of the crash, there were questions about whether the wreckage would fall into the Indian Ocean, Mexico, or the Atlantic, with Portugal in the spotlight.
In Malaysia, several people from Sarawak province shared their videos on social media.
فقط في: يمكن لـ US space with shoot pic.twitter.com/mlkxYYfOV4
— anna⚜????????????????????????⚜ (@annan_85) July 30, 2022
It makes a record of the re-entry of the Long March-5B!!!
Credit – @DELTA_V pic.twitter.com/SPlUVqc6u6
— Sacani (Space Today) (@SpaceToday1) July 30, 2022
Source: Observadora
