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I can’t emphasize enough how not necessary it is to have the upper stage of CZ-5B reenter uncontrolled. Nudging the stage into the atmosphere while over an ocea
by bryananderson 4y ago
I can’t emphasize enough how not necessary it is to have the upper stage of CZ-5B reenter uncontrolled. Nudging the stage into the atmosphere while over an ocean is a much easier problem than launching the rocket on a precise trajectory to rendezvous with a space station. China clearly has the capability; not doing it is a choice.
- FooBarWidget 4y agoSo why isn't Starlink doing it? https://twitter.com/planet4589/status/1551434933285052416 https://twitter.com/planet4589/status/1551434933285052416 And why isn't there a similar amount of outrage against Starlink? Genuine question.
- sam_bristow 4y agoI believe Starlink satellites are small enough that they'd burn up completely in the atmosphere before crashing into anything.
- FooBarWidget 4y agoAnd this Chinese rocket stage won't burn up completely? Do all other countries' rocket stages burn up completely?
- bryananderson 4y agoCorrect, an object of this size is almost certain to not burn up completely (and indeed it did not). The same is true for other countries’ rockets, which is why those countries nudge them into the atmosphere over the ocean. China’s refusal to do this standard, low-tech mitigation is the reason for the outrage.
- bryananderson 4y agoThe amount of potential debris is roughly proportional to the mass of the object (maybe more than linear, since smaller objects tend to disintegrate with no detectable debris at all). A Starlink satellite is about 260 kg. The CZ-5B stage is about 23,000 kg. It’s almost 100x the mass, hence 100x the danger (or more, since satellite-sized objects rarely have any debris) and 100x the outrage.