(CMR) Experts have warned that a section of a large Chinese rocket is falling back to Earth and could crash in an inhabited area sometime Saturday.
However, the Pentagon said the exact location where the rocket will fall could not be pinpointed until within hours of reentry.
US officials are said to be tracking the rocket's trajectory and falling debris, the Pentagon said in a statement.
China launched the Long March 5B rocket, carrying China's Tianhe space station core module, from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in southern China's Hainan province on April 29. China has not confirmed if the core stage of the rocket is still in its control.
Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist at the Astrophysics Center at Harvard University, told CNN that it was almost impossible to determine where the debris would fall as even the slightest changes in circumstances could change the trajectory.
While it is difficult to predict where it will fall, USA Today reported that the nonprofit Aerospace Corp. expects the debris to hit the Pacific Ocean near the equator after passing over eastern US cities. Its orbit covers a swath of the planet from New Zealand to Newfoundland, the report said.
The Chinese rocket is 100 feet long and would be among the biggest pieces of space debris to fall to Earth.
- Fascinated
- Happy
- Sad
- Angry
- Bored
- Afraid
