Beijing:
Accusing the US of preserving “double standards”, China on Monday played down international issues more than its out-of-manage rocket remnants re-getting into the Earth’s atmosphere and crashing into the Indian Ocean close to the Maldives.
The remnants of China’s most significant rocket, Long March 5B, crashed into the Indian Ocean close to the Maldives on Sunday with no reports of harm, but Beijing was criticised by US space agency NASA for its failure to “meet responsible standards” concerning its space debris.
Reacting to NASA Administrator Senator Bill Nelson’s criticism, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying at a media briefing in Beijing stated some nations, such as America, are hyping up the problem even although the rocket debris was burnt on re-entry into the atmosphere.
“You mentioned some comments from the NASA administrator. It is currently common practice across the world for launch vehicles of spacecraft to undergo natural orbital decay after passing orbital altitude and then eventually be ablated upon re-entry into the atmosphere”, she stated in updated comments posted on the Foreign Ministry web-site.
“China has been following closely the upper stage’s re-entry into the atmosphere. The upper stage of this rocket has been deactivated, which means that it will not explode in orbit and produce space debris, and most of its parts will burn up upon re-entry, making the likelihood of damage to aviation or ground facilities and activities extremely low,” she stated.
China monitored closely the re-entry trajectory all through the method and released a notice on the re-entry in advance. So far no harm has been reported, she stated.
“In fact, the Chinese side shared its re-entry forecast through international cooperation mechanisms. We always conducts activities for peaceful uses of outer space in accordance with international law and customary practice,” she stated.
Hitting out at the US, Hua stated people in the US clearly hold double typical on this problem. “You may recall that in March this year, when a piece of a SpaceX rocket crashed on a farm in the country, American media used such romantic descriptions as ”lighting up the night sky like a meteor, producing a spectacular light show”, she said.
“But when it comes to China, the tune is fully unique. I noticed some jesting on the net in China, saying that US politicians may possibly be forgetful, but the Internet has a extended memory. We stand prepared to strengthen cooperation with other nations such as the US, but we reject double typical on this problem,” she said.
Responding to a question on whether China has notified India and the Maldives about the crash, Hua said.
“China’s space authority has released information and facts many occasions on the re-entry of upper stage debris of the Long March-5B Y2 rocket and shared re-entry forecast through international cooperation mechanisms. To date no harm by the landing debris has been reported,” she said.
The space vehicle re-entered the atmosphere on Sunday morning and the debris from the 18-tonne rocket, one of the largest items in decades to have an undirected dive into the atmosphere, landed in the Indian Ocean.
The uncontrolled fall of the Chinese rocket sparked concerns among US officials, NASA and international astrophysicists that it could hit inhabited areas.
Harvard astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell, who tracked the debris of the rocket part for the past few days, said that it was a reckless gamble by China.
“An ocean reentry was constantly statistically the most probably. It seems China won its gamble…But it was nevertheless reckless,” he tweeted.
There has been intense speculation more than exactly where the rocket debris may well land, and US officials and other professionals warned its return risked possible casualties.
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