In recent days all over the world and in Abuja, Nigeria, lately, there was so much apprehension over the possible falling of Chinese rocket from the orbit to earth upon re-entry.
Human beings have every right to worry but again in this contextual situation, there is absolutely nothing to worry about; yes, there is absolutely nothing to worry about – This is because rocket debris faling from the orbit is not a new thing; Soviet/Russian, American and European rockets have been falling from the orbit after their mission ever since when Yuri Gagarin, a Soviet cosmonaut and first human to enter the space in the 60’s. Rocket debris usually burn out before falling, we should be mindful that this is a serious rocket science and the procedure is highly controlled with a precision and error free to avoid fall of rocket pieces in areas inhabited by humans.
Over 70% of earth is water, there are also forests, deserts and mountainous landscapes. It is most likely that the Chinese burned rocket debris may fall into some of these landscapes upon re-entry somewhere around the globe.
In a briefing in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman, Wang Wenbin clarified issues by saying that “the upperstage of the rocket has been deactivated, which means that most of its parts will be burn up upon re-entry, making the likelihood of damage to aviation or ground facilities and activities extremely low”. So evidently, the perception that the rocket debris is going to crash like aeroplane on people’s roofs is not true but the usual misinformation on anything Chinese.
It is pure double standard by those that felt China should not own a spaceststion. It will be recalled that China launched it’s core module of new spaceststion to orbit on 28th April atop a heavy lift of Long March 5B rocket from the Wenchang spacecraft launch site on the Island of Hainan. The 54-foot long (16.6 metres) module also known as “Tianhe” or “Harmony of the Heavens”, is the first component station to launch. As a result of this feat, China will by 2022 own it’s independent spaceststion and will in the league of Russia, U.S and E.U.
— Lawal Sale Maida is Abuja based Global Affairs Analyst.
