Recklessly endangering
Images and a terrifying video circulating on social media show what appears to be debris from a Chinese missile crashing over a village in southwestern China, resulting in a huge cloud of unnerving yellow smoke.
One clip shows distressed villagers running from a giant chunk of rocket that falls from the sky, leaving a bright orange trail of smoke in the distance.
The images were shared not long after a Long March 2C rocket launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan province, sending a satellite into orbit.
This is far from the first time we’ve seen debris from such a launch rain uncontrollably over populated areas. In January, for example, two rocket boosters from a Chinese Long March 3B missile crashed in a forested and inhabited area, belching huge fireballs.
The phenomenon has sparked outrage from the international space community, with NASA Administrator Bill Nelson releasing a statement in 2021 accusing China of “failing to meet responsible standards regarding their space debris.”
Worse, if CNN Locals were reportedly “strictly prohibited” from “distributing relevant videos online” in a notice, suggesting officials are trying to downplay the very real dangers of the chaotic and fast-moving space program.
https://twitter.com/Byron_Wan/status/1804859855955787810
Raining rockets
It is unclear whether anyone was injured in the latest incident. Eyewitnesses told it CNN that “there was a sharp smell and the sound of an explosion.” Local villagers were also told to spread out and observe the open sky before the launch to ensure they were not injured.
The yellow and orange smoke emitted by the rocket debris is “extremely toxic and carcinogenic,” said Markus Schiller, senior researcher at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. CNN. “Any living thing that inhales that stuff is going to have a hard time in the near future.”
Instead of launching their rockets from inland like China, NASA and the European Space Agency launch their rockets from the coast, where rocket parts have a much greater chance of falling harmlessly into the ocean.
SpaceX has also developed reusable rocket boosters that return to the launch pad, almost completely avoiding these risks.
Meanwhile, China has repeatedly made headlines for crashing its rockets over populated areas, posing a significant threat and embarrassment to its ambitious space program.
It’s an insensitive approach to putting payloads into orbit, especially considering the many ways such risks can be averted.
“I expect we’ll see something like this for a while and for many years to come,” Schiller said CNN.
More about the Chinese missiles: Videos show Chinese missile parts raining down and exploding
