China National Space Administration has announced that remnants of its biggest rocket, Long March 5B, went down in the Indian Ocean near the Maldives on Sunday.China Manned Space Engineering Office said that the remnants of the rocket re-entered the Earth's atmosphere at 10.24 am Beijing time (07:54 IST) and fell at 72.47 degrees east longitude and 2.65 degrees north latitude.
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Last week, the rocket had successfully launched the Tianhe module (living quarters) of the future Chinese Space Station.Usually, remnants of rocket stages are guided into a controlled demolition by friction in Earth's atmosphere, but the 30-metre long Chinese rocket section reached orbit.The uncontrollable rocket remnant, among the biggest space debris to fall to Earth, left space scientists anxious and worried about its possible point of re-entry and where it would crash eventually.
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The consequences of the rocket crashing in inhabited areas would have resulted in a catastrophe.China faced global backlash for allowing uncontrolled re-entry of the rocket.US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin saying that those who operate in the space domain should be required to operate in a safe and thoughtful mode and make sure that such things into consideration when operations are planned and conducted.
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