Chinese rocket debris crashes to Indian Ocean near Maldives [Video]

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• Authorities confirmed that China’s Long March 5B rocket debris has splashed down in the Indian Ocean near Maldives on Saturday.
• Prior to the crash, experts said that the chance that the object could pose danger to humans was small.
• The exact location of the crash was difficult to predict given the rocket’s travel speed of 18,000 miles per hour.

The huge debris from China’s ‘Long March 5B’ space rocket has already crashed on Earth, falling uncontrollably in the Indian Ocean near Maldives, per China’s space administration as reported by The New York Times.

In a statement, the US Space Command confirmed that the debris from the Chinese spacecraft “re-entered over the Arabian Peninsula at approximately 10:15 pm EDT on May 8. It is unknown if the debris impacted land or water.”

Referring to the account of the China Manned Space Engineering Office, Reuters reported that the coordinates tracked the point of impact in the western part of the Maldives archipelago.

According to the AP, the Long March 5B carried the main module of the new and permanent Chinese space station ‘Tianhe’ into orbit last April 29. 

The Chinese spacecraft did not undergo the process of having a controlled wreckage upon its arrival to the world’s atmosphere, contrary to most space rockets, per AP.

There were worries that the rocket fall could be fatal if it crashed at the wrong place, but authorities were quite confident that it would land somewhere in the ocean.

“We’re hopeful that it will land in a place where it won’t harm anyone,” US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said before the debris made impact to Earth, per BBC. “Hopefully in the ocean, or someplace like that.”

In an interview with CNN, Astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell said that the possibility that the debris could hit anyone was very slim.

“I don’t think people should take precautions,” he said prior to the splashdown. “The risk that there will be some damage or that it would hit someone is pretty small — not negligible, it could happen — but the risk that it will hit you is incredibly tiny. And so I would not lose one second of sleep over this on a personal threat basis,” he said.

“There are much bigger things to worry about,” McDowell added.

Since the rocket was traveling at over 18,000 miles per hour, it was hard to determine its exact point of impact, McDowell explained. He also slammed China for its failure to manage the incident.

“I think it’s negligent of them. I think it’s irresponsible,” he told the New York Times.

Source: PEOPLE.com