Because really what else would you expect these convulsive days, a massive Chinese rocket is hurtling uncontrolled back down to Earth this weekend while much of the world wonders, with a mix of actual anxiety and sheesh-what-next resignation, just where it will land and if they'll be under it when it does. Part of a new Chinese space station that went into orbit on April 29 but was then left to hurtle through space, the 23-ton, 100-foot Long March 5B rocket booster was expected to enter Earth's atmosphere from late Saturday night to early Monday morning. It's predicted to land in a laughably broad "risk zone" that encompasses much of the world - all the Americas south of New York, all of Africa and Australia, large swaths of Asia and Europe - thanks to its speed of 18,000 miles an hour, which means you'll know where it lands when it lands but it'll probably be in an ocean because that's most of the Earth's surface. One astrophysicist called the risk of it hitting you "incredibly tiny - I would not lose one second of sleep over this on a personal threat basis," but if the last few years have made you feel you'll never know what's coming down the pike, you can get updates here and here.
Because really what else would you expect these convulsive days, a massive Chinese rocket is hurtling uncontrolled back down to Earth this weekend while much of the world wonders, with a mix of actual anxiety and sheesh-what-next resignation, just where it will land and if they'll be under it when it does. Part of a new Chinese space station that went into orbit on April 29 but was then left to hurtle through space, the 23-ton, 100-foot Long March 5B rocket booster was expected to enter Earth's atmosphere from late Saturday night to early Monday morning. It's predicted to land in a laughably broad "risk zone" that encompasses much of the world - all the Americas south of New York, all of Africa and Australia, large swaths of Asia and Europe - thanks to its speed of 18,000 miles an hour, which means you'll know where it lands when it lands but it'll probably be in an ocean because that's most of the Earth's surface. One astrophysicist called the risk of it hitting you "incredibly tiny - I would not lose one second of sleep over this on a personal threat basis," but if the last few years have made you feel you'll never know what's coming down the pike, you can get updates here and here.
Because really what else would you expect these convulsive days, a massive Chinese rocket is hurtling uncontrolled back down to Earth this weekend while much of the world wonders, with a mix of actual anxiety and sheesh-what-next resignation, just where it will land and if they'll be under it when it does. Part of a new Chinese space station that went into orbit on April 29 but was then left to hurtle through space, the 23-ton, 100-foot Long March 5B rocket booster was expected to enter Earth's atmosphere from late Saturday night to early Monday morning. It's predicted to land in a laughably broad "risk zone" that encompasses much of the world - all the Americas south of New York, all of Africa and Australia, large swaths of Asia and Europe - thanks to its speed of 18,000 miles an hour, which means you'll know where it lands when it lands but it'll probably be in an ocean because that's most of the Earth's surface. One astrophysicist called the risk of it hitting you "incredibly tiny - I would not lose one second of sleep over this on a personal threat basis," but if the last few years have made you feel you'll never know what's coming down the pike, you can get updates here and here.