A piece of space debris the size of a bus falls to Earth, may already be in the atmosphere

Exceptionally pieces of a large piece of space debris are about to fall to earth on Friday.

It is about the second stage of the Chinese launch vehicle, i.e. a part of the rocket launched into space. It will make an uncontrolled reentry into Earth’s atmosphere on Friday.

Department of Meteorology Space Situation Center said after three o’clock in the afternoon that the piece has very likely entered the atmosphere. However, final confirmation of this has not yet been received.

Space Situation Center manager Ari-Matti Harri previously estimated to HS that the rocket’s second stage would enter the atmosphere by 4 p.m. After entering the atmosphere, the object falls to the ground in about a quarter of an inch.

The second stage of the ZQ 3 R/B launch vehicle has an estimated mass of approximately 11 tons and a length of 12–13 meters. In other words, it’s about the size of a bus.

However, it will not fall to the ground “in any case” in one piece, but will break into pieces of different sizes, Harri said. Most of the fragments burn in the atmosphere, he continues.

“The pieces with a larger surface area usually burn up as reindeer in the atmosphere.”

Target According to the Space Situation Center, it is in such an orbit that its parts that fall to the ground cannot fall to Finland.

According to Harri, at the moment the most uncertainties are connected to the point at which the object enters the atmosphere. In Europe, the possible area for repatriation is south of the Baltics and Denmark, but the destination can end up almost anywhere on Earth.

“Usually these fall into the oceans, because most of the Earth’s surface is oceans,” said Harri.

The song is so big that its progress is followed worldwide.

Its fall can affect air traffic: If the target is arriving in an area hit by several flight routes, airlines might consider waiting for pieces of the target to fall, Harri explains.

Chinese the launch vehicle was launched on December 3.

Although an uncontrollable fall may sound dramatic, according to Harri, it is a fairly common situation.

According to him, what is exceptional in this case is mainly the larger-than-average size of the song.