![]() ![]() In general, it appears the vehicle is bright enough to spot with the naked eye, but you might have better luck with binoculars or a telescope, especially in light-polluted areas. The website (or apps) by Heavens-Above has a list of passes of the Tianhe module tailored for your preferred observation location. On April 28, the rocket launched the core stage of the T-shaped Tianhe space station, which will eventually include several modules. (Image credit: CASC)Ĭhina has been occasionally commenting on the situation in state media and in news reports, so keep an eye out in English-language coverage for any comments state officials may have.Īlternatively, you might want to look for the new Chinese space station that this Long March 5B helped to build. You can watch it directly from the Virtual Telescope here and on YouTube.Ī Long March 5B rocket launches Tianhe, the core module of China's new space station, on April 28, 2021. He's been posting several times a day about the progress of the Long March 5B.Īmateur skywatchers are also keeping an eye out for the rocket, with the Virtual Telescope's Gianluca Masi planning to broadcast live footage from Rome if the core stage is visible from there. More details about re-entry predictions are also available on its website.Īnother Twitter feed to keep an eye on is that of Jonathan McDowell, a well-known tracker of uncontrolled falls in the U.S. The Aerospace Corporation, which supports national security space programs, posts regularly on its Twitter feed and occasionally on Medium about the core stage status. Space Command is updating at least once a day with the latest information about where the rocket is likely to fall, based on parameters such as how high Earth's atmosphere is billowing and how drag is expected to affect the massive Chinese vehicle. As of Saturday afternoon, it was estimated to fall in the northern Atlantic Ocean west of Europe give or take 4 hours. Tracking of the rocket shows it has passed just north of New York, Madrid and Beijing, but has also been tracked across the southern hemisphere above Chile and New Zealand, with experts fearing debris from the falling rocket could land on inhabited areas.ĭebris landed on villages in Ivory Coast in May 2020 after the last Long March rocket launch.This reentry prediction plot by the Aerospace Corporation shows the estimated splashdown point of China's 21 metric ton Long March 5B rocket booster on Saturday, May 8, 2021. Scientists have admitted they cannot predict where the rocket will land due to its high velocity - it is travelling around the Earth once every 90 minutes, or seven kilometres per second - on an “unpredictable” path. The US Department of Defense said Wednesday it is tracking the rocket, currently at an altitude of 200 kilometres, but added that its exact entry point cannot be pinpointed a few hours ahead of its expected re-entry on May 8. On completing its launch and separating from the core, the rocket should have made its descent on a predetermined path to land somewhere in the ocean, but is now also in orbit and one of the largest ever launches to make an uncontrolled re-entry. The Long March 5B rocket recently launched the first module for China’s new Tianhe space station into orbit, which will eventually serve as living quarters for Chinese astronauts. LONDON: A Chinese rocket, which last week carried a module to an under-construction space station, has dropped into Earth’s low orbit and could crash-land on an inhabited area on the surface, it was announced on Wednesday.
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