VERY heavy raindrops on their way

[jimnyc]

And raindrops = 21 ton Chinese rocket falling from space!

Idiots screwed up somewhere and one of the sections of the rocket, generally separate prior to orbit and fall safely back down to earth in the ocean. But they did something wrong and whatever portion of the rocket it is made it into orbit and is now circling the earth out of control until it falls through the atmosphere and your guess is as good as anyone's as to where it might land. Scary shit right here! With luck, a lot will hopefully burn up on re-entry.

I assumed it would be one of the fuel tanks at that weight of tonnage, but not sure. Either way a royal screwup here.

Hope for the water and not in NY somewhere! LOL

--

Parts of high-speed, 21-ton Chinese rocket could crash land anywhere in the world over next week

A Chinese rocket that successfully blasted off a building block for a space station is set to make an uncontrolled re-entry back to Earth, and its debris could crash into an inhabited area, according to reports.

The Long March 5B Y2 lifted off on Thursday from China’s southern Hainan island carrying the main module for China’s first permanent space station.

While the module separated from the launcher to continue its journey as planned, the launch vehicle’s core section also reached orbit and is now slowly and unpredictably heading back to Earth.

On Tuesday, the 21-tonne Long March 5B was in orbit travelling at around 28,000 kilometres per hour, or 7 kilometres per second.

In the coming days, it is expected to make one of the largest uncontrolled re-entries of a spacecraft as the Earth’s atmosphere drags it down, and could potentially land on an inhabited area, according to the US-based SpaceNews.

Spaceflight observer and astrophysicist at Harvard University Jonathan McDowell told SpaceNews that it was “unacceptable” to let the core section of the launcher re-enter uncontrolled.

“Since 1990 nothing over 10 tons has been deliberately left in orbit to re-enter uncontrolled,” he said.

The Long March 5B could re-enter at any point as far north as Beijing, Madrid and New York, and as far south as southern Chile and Wellington in New Zealand, SpaceNews reported.

However, it is most likely that any debris which survives the intense heat of re-entry will fall into the larger oceans - which account for around 70 per cent of the Earth - or areas where there are no people living, it added.

Rest - https://www.yahoo.com/news/parts-hig...092421702.html

[jimnyc]

I should have known better. It was in fact a fuel tank that they left out of control.

And it's worse than I thought. And no, not as much the impending fall, but rather their intentions. Why the need for an independent ISS (International Space Station)?

They were in fact officially excluded from the ISS by the US, of course because they/we didn't trust them. And they have done many things since to show it was a good decision. And I think in like 2005 or so, maybe a little later, China showed it also officially developed another technology - when they shot a missile up into space to blow up one of their own satellites.

So are their intentions solely like the rest of the world, as a learning tool and testing tool? Or anything nefarious in addition? As if they can be trusted to do anything without something wrong about it.

[Kathianne]

I should have known better. It was in fact a fuel tank that they left out of control.

And it's worse than I thought. And no, not as much the impending fall, but rather their intentions. Why the need for an independent ISS (International Space Station)?

They were in fact officially excluded from the ISS by the US, of course because they/we didn't trust them. And they have done many things since to show it was a good decision. And I think in like 2005 or so, maybe a little later, China showed it also officially developed another technology - when they shot a missile up into space to blow up one of their own satellites.

So are their intentions solely like the rest of the world, as a learning tool and testing tool? Or anything nefarious in addition? As if they can be trusted to do anything without something wrong about it.

Cannot be trusted.

[SassyLady]

Kinetic Strike?

Maybe no longer science fiction.

A kinetic bombardment or a kinetic orbital strike is the hypothetical act of attacking a planetary surface with an inert projectile from orbit (orbital bombardment), where the destructive power comes from the kinetic energy of the projectile impacting at very high speeds. The concept originated during the Cold War.

Typical depictions of the tactic are of a satellite containing a magazine of tungsten rods and a directional thrust system. (In science fiction, the weapon is often depicted as being launched from a spaceship, instead of a satellite.) When a strike is ordered, the launch vehicle brakes^[1] one of the rods out of its orbit and into a suborbital trajectory that intersects the target. The rods would typically be shaped to minimize air resistance and maximize velocity upon impact.
Kinetic bombardment has the advantage of being able to deliver projectiles from a very high angle at a very high speed, making them extremely difficult to defend against. In addition, projectiles would not require explosive warheads, and—in the simplest designs—would consist entirely of solid metal rods, giving rise to the common nickname "rods from God".^[2] Disadvantages include the technical difficulties of ensuring accuracy and the high costs of positioning ammunition in orbit.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinetic_bombardment

[jimnyc]

This is reckless IMO. And what if the 21 ton space piece isn't exactly falling out of control? What if that is a tad of a ruse and they know kinda exactly where it will break through? And of course we have no clue with their intent of their ISS. The only good news is that it's going to be open for business with other government space entities like the current ISS, just that the USA is excluded. Not sure they would be running harmful shit in the open, but this is China.

[jimnyc]

And worst case, and it's no longer just movies - but having laser or another style weapons system built within. Keep in mind that at between 22-27,000 miles per hour, these suckers round the earth every 90 mins! Perfect vehicle for attacks if one wanted to.