A Space Rocket Is Falling Back To Earth & Malta’s In The Danger Zone

0
2015

A rocket from a Chinese spaceship recently launched into space detached (as planned) from the main body of the said spaceship. However, it’s rapidly heading back to Earth (not planned) and at a hefty 18 tonnes, it’s one of the largest items in decades to have an undirected dive into the atmosphere.

And Malta’s in the red zone of where the rocket could land.

No plans to shoot it down

To make things clear, it’s a massive potential area of landing. It could be anywhere from New York to Beijing, Rio de Janeiro to Sydney, and anywhere in the oceans between. As the diagram below shows, however, Malta sits within the danger area.

Re-entry zone

The US said that it was watching the path of the object but currently had no plans to shoot it down, according to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. “We’re hopeful that it will land in a place where it won’t harm anyone…hopefully in the ocean, or someplace like that.”

According to space debris modelling experts, late Saturday or early Sunday (GMT) are the likely moments of re-entry. Such projections, however, are always highly uncertain.

Could it really hit Malta?

The probability is at a minimum. More of the core will burn up the further the debris falls, and most of the planet is covered by ocean. Also, there are large areas of land that are uninhabited. But, the chances are still not completely zero.

The potential fall zone is restricted still further by the trajectory of the rocket stage. It’s moving on an inclination to the equator of about 41.5 degrees. This means it’s possible already to exclude that any debris could fall further north than approximately 41.5 degrees North latitude and further south than 41.5 degrees South latitude.

Long March 5b rocket
The spaceship in question

SHARE