Washington: Space agency NASA slammed China for failing to meet ‘responsible standards’ regarding its space debris. The NASA statement came Sunday, hours after remnants of China’s largest and an out of control rocket disintegrated over the Indian Ocean near the Maldives.
The debris from China’s Long March 5B rocket re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere at 10.24am Beijing time. Those fell into an open sea area at 72.47 degrees east longitude and 2.65 degrees north latitude, China’s ‘Manned Space Engineering Office’ said Sunday.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said blamed the entire incident on China. “It is clear that China is failing to meet responsible standards regarding their space debris,” Nelson said.
“Spacefaring nations must minimise the risks to people and property on Earth of re-entries of space objects. They should maximise transparency regarding those operations. It is critical that China and all spacefaring nations and commercial entities act responsibly and transparently in space to ensure the safety, stability, security, and long-term sustainability of outer space activities,” Nelson added. He is a senator and astronaut who was picked for the role in March.
NASA’s new administrator is big on tackling climate and diversifying the agency’s workforce. However, he is hedging on whether the US can put astronauts on the moon by 2024.
The rocket launched the first module of China’s new Tianhe space station into Earth’s orbit April 29. At around 100 feet tall and weighing about 22 metric tonnes, the rocket stage is one of the largest objects to ever re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere on an uncontrolled trajectory.
Its re-entry prompted international concern about where it might land. Scientists said the risk to humans was astronomically low, but it was not impossible for it to land in an inhabited area.
Last year, the re-entry of debris from the first ‘Long March’ 5B flight fell in Ivory Coast, damaging several homes in villages. It was the largest craft to crash to Earth since the US space laboratory, Skylab scattered debris over the southern Australian town of Esperance in 1979.
China is expected to carry out more launches in its space station programme in the coming weeks as it aims to complete the space station project next year.
