CRASH LANDING Chinese rocket tracker LIVE: 21-ton booster debris PLUNGES into Indian Ocean on Sunday despite fears it would hit US
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THERE was a lot of speculation about where the Chinese rocket part would land before it plunged into the Indian Ocean in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Experts warned it could reach "as far north as Chicago, New York City, Rome and Beijing and as south as New Zealand and Chile" before the debris' dramatic re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere.
China launched its first space station on Thursday in the first of 11 missions that will see a three-person crew sent up by the end of 2022.
But the rocket part that broke off as planned was due to have a controlled re-entry - until Chinese authorities lost the ability to coordinate its landing.
It was circling the Earth and was expected to crash land this weekend, with scientists trying to pinpoint the exact location it will hit, before parts of the Long March 5B re-entered the atmosphere at 10:24am Beijing time.
Although it had the potential to hit in a highly-populated area, the Pentagon has refused to shoot it down and most of the debris burned up in the atmosphere, reported Reuters, citing Chinese state media.
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11 MINUTES AGO
MORE CONFIRMATIONS COMING IN ON ROCKET'S OCEAN LANDING
Per Space Track...
"...CZ-5B (#LongMarch5B) (48275 / 2021-035B) reentered atmosphere 9 May at 0214Z and fell into the Indian ocean north of the Maldives at lat 22.2, long 50.0. That's all we have on this re-entry; thanks for the wild ride and 30K more followers. Good night!"
@18SPCS confirms that CZ-5B (#LongMarch5B) (48275 / 2021-035B) reentered atmosphere 9 May at 0214Z and fell into the Indian ocean north of the Maldives at lat 22.2, long 50.0. That's all we have on this re-entry; thanks for the wild ride and 30K more followers. Good night!
— Space-Track (@SpaceTrackOrg) May 9, 2021
27 MINUTES AGO
CHINESE ROCKET MAKES INDIAN OCEAN LANDING, REUTERS REPORTS
Whatever is left of the Long March 5B is now underwater.
China's biggest rocket made a waterfall landing in the Indian Ocean west of the Maldives on Sunday, Reuters reported.
The bulk of the massive rocket likely
Last Update (UTC): 2021-05-09 03:30Z
NORAD CAT ID SATNAME INTLDES DECAY EPOCH WINDOW LAT LONG
48275 CZ-5B (Long March 5B) 2021-035B 2021-05-09 02:14:00 (UTC) +/- 1 minutes 22.2 50.0
burned into thin air upon reantry to Earth.
"Parts of the Long March 5B re-entered the atmosphere at 10:24 a.m. Beijing time (0224 GMT) and landed at a location with the coordinates of longitude 72.47 degrees east and latitude 2.65 degrees north," according to Reuters, citing Chinese State Media.
Remnants of China's biggest rocket landed in the Indian Ocean, with the bulk of its components destroyed upon re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere, according to Chinese state media
https://t.co/hwFi9yIFsz pic.twitter.com/2O7zEKHWwH
— Reuters (@Reuters) May 9, 2021
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