Anyone following the Chinese rocket coming down?

[vonfirmath]

US military has ‘no plan’ to shoot down debris from Chinese rocket | Space | The Guardian

[Carrie12345]

I’m trying not to follow too closely ‘cus, yk, anxiety, lol. But it’s there in the back of my mind.

I’m certainly hoping it *does hit the middle of a big ocean. There’s no doubt in my mind that officials will say and do anything they can to prevent panic after seeing, yk, pandemic.  

Hank Green says shooting it down would be worse. He’s currently my favorite “official”, so I’ll take his word for it.

[Eos]

I'm sure @Karenihas thoughts about some of us "following the rocket" for the Game!

[Pawz4me]

I've been following the news about it. I'm old enough to remember Skylab, and this reminds me of it.

[Miss Tick]

Yes! We've been watching it since this weekend. "Shooting it down" is just a ridiculous idea for creating a splashy headline. Then you would have billions of tiny pieces all flinging toward earth rather than a big, chunk. Plus then you release any of the toxic fuel still onboard into the upper atmosphere where it has even more potential to do damage.

In the thread on Sunday someone suggested bicycle helmets. 😄 I told my dc I'm going to make them wear them all weekend - just in case!

The quote from the Guardian doesn't match what I saw on the Aerospace Corp's website with a possible impact point near the Egypt/Sudan border but with margin of error bands that pretty much encompassed every point under the current orbit.

There was also discussion that this happened last year with another Chinese Long March 5b rocket that caused damage in Ivory Coast. Either this is a pattern of intentional negligence or incompetence, but I'm thinking it will continue. Do they have more space station modules to launch?

[I talk to the trees]

Following the rocket? Heck, no! I'm going to be running in the opposite direction! 😂 Sorry. Couldn’t resist after reading the title, and I'm too lazy to go searching for the Forum Game thread.

Real answer, yes, but not too closely. Don’t need anything else to make me bite my nails right now. 

[Miss Tick]

1 hour ago, I talk to the trees said:

Following the rocket? Heck, no! I'm going to be running in the opposite direction! 😂 Sorry. Couldn’t resist after reading the title, and I'm too lazy to go searching for the Forum Game thread.

Real answer, yes, but not too closely. Don’t need anything else to make me bite my nails right now. 

Have you learned nothing from Hollywood? Run *toward* it so it zooms over your head, or perpendicularly so that you don't have to outrun it! 😂😂

[HeartString]

15 minutes ago, Seasider too said:

I agree that this appears to be intentional negligence. It is unconscionable to me that after knowing it caused damage last time, there is a second uncontrolled fall. A fault in development is one thing, but to choose not to solve the problem before a second run is, IMO, completely irresponsible. 
 

One of the articles I read had a link to some sort of flight tracker, I’ll have to go back and look at the other thread. 
 

I am not afraid of it falling on my head, but I am concerned that it may incite an international conflict. 

I agree with 100%, I just can’t wrap my mind about why?  How does this benefit the Chinese? They look incompetent, so that’s not good. It makes me wonder if there isn’t as much wealth in the country as we think, if they can’t afford to maintain things?   Do they not have the technology we assume they have?   It’s so weird.  

[Ausmumof3]

34 minutes ago, Seasider too said:

I agree that this appears to be intentional negligence. It is unconscionable to me that after knowing it caused damage last time, there is a second uncontrolled fall. A fault in development is one thing, but to choose not to solve the problem before a second run is, IMO, completely irresponsible. 
 

One of the articles I read had a link to some sort of flight tracker, I’ll have to go back and look at the other thread. 
 

I am not afraid of it falling on my head, but I am concerned that it may incite an international conflict. 

Yeah this was what I was wondering - is this going to add to current international tensions?

[TravelingChris]

1 hour ago, HeartString said:

I agree with 100%, I just can’t wrap my mind about why?  How does this benefit the Chinese? They look incompetent, so that’s not good. It makes me wonder if there isn’t as much wealth in the country as we think, if they can’t afford to maintain things?   Do they not have the technology we assume they have?   It’s so weird.  

They do not use three stage rockets like we do and others do.  There is a reason we do that.  They use a one stage rocket and that is what is falling down.  Why they decided to use a one stage versus three stage like everyone else?  I suppose because they don't care.

[TravelingChris]

Just now, TravelingChris said:

They do not use three stage rockets like we do and others do.  There is a reason we do that.  They use a one stage rocket and that is what is falling down.  Why they decided to use a one stage versus three stage like everyone else?  I suppose because they don't care.

And yes, I do not think they have as much money as people think.

[HeartString]

14 minutes ago, TravelingChris said:

And yes, I do not think they have as much money as people think.

That’s interesting. I had never considered that, until this thread.  

[RootAnn]

Looks like it came down in the Indian Ocean.

[Faith-manor]

On 5/7/2021 at 12:29 PM, Seasider too said:

Perhaps some of our more knowledgeable boardies could comment on this, but a relative of mine who travels there on sort of high level business believes this is the case. 

Yes, I know an electrical engineer who travels for his company and has spent a lot of time in Japan and China, speaks Japanese and Mandarin fluently and often stays with host families arranged by his company. He said the wealth and tech difference between Japan and China is absolutely startling. China just has such major issues with poverty, and all technological advancements are made on a shoe string budget that takes vital money away from desperately needed public health, infrastructure, and assistance. They have some glam looking sections of their cities, and try to keep the tourism to the areas for show, but the real situation is pretty awful.

And then there is simply the not caring all that much about human life from their government. Why spend money to properly and safely recover rockets when you don't care who or where they hit? The one thing their government seems to depend on is that no other nations will take them on and retaliate.

I wonder, since they are not likely to desist in their pursuits, if the international community shouldn't just bribe them to do it right. There are worse things, and at least maybe we could stop a big tragedy in the future.

[Miss Tick]

7 hours ago, RootAnn said:

Looks like it came down in the Indian Ocean.

Yes! Dodged the bullet in the shape of a giant rocket part this time! Looks like they have 10 more modules to go. 😁

https://www.npr.org/2021/05/09/995150827/china-says-most-rocket-debris-burned-up-during-reentry

[kbutton]

5 hours ago, Faith-manor said:

and all technological advancements are made on a shoe string budget

I know someone that works for a Chinese company operating in the US that sells a transportation product that is bought in the US, and their engineers don't seem to understand our safety standards at all. My understanding is that they basically carry on like the standards don't exist even though they'll have to fix things later in the process if they want to retain their contract. They just seem to struggle with the idea of it being needed or useful at all to have standardization that includes safety, or that these standards will be magically waived in the end.

I realize there are US companies that have demonstrated a blind eye toward safety regulations , but I get the impression that it's more calculated on the bottom line than on a complete lack of awareness! 

Fudging safety shows a character issue for sure, but just not addressing it is a bit astonishing and hard to fathom.

[madteaparty]

On 5/7/2021 at 12:26 PM, HeartString said:

I agree with 100%, I just can’t wrap my mind about why?  How does this benefit the Chinese? They look incompetent, so that’s not good. It makes me wonder if there isn’t as much wealth in the country as we think, if they can’t afford to maintain things?   Do they not have the technology we assume they have?   It’s so weird.  

From personal experience, certainly they have better trains and roads than we have, lol. 
 

[KungFuPanda]

Hasn't the Space Force been training for this very moment???

 

[Faith-manor]

4 hours ago, kbutton said:

I know someone that works for a Chinese company operating in the US that sells a transportation product that is bought in the US, and their engineers don't seem to understand our safety standards at all. My understanding is that they basically carry on like the standards don't exist even though they'll have to fix things later in the process if they want to retain their contract. They just seem to struggle with the idea of it being needed or useful at all to have standardization that includes safety, or that these standards will be magically waived in the end.

I realize there are US companies that have demonstrated a blind eye toward safety regulations , but I get the impression that it's more calculated on the bottom line than on a complete lack of awareness! 

Fudging safety shows a character issue for sure, but just not addressing it is a bit astonishing and hard to fathom.

Totally agree. It is kind of mind boggling! I mean, unfortunately, I do expect some "bean counting" here in calculating "do we fix it or not", but there is also the trial by public opinion and often that does help sway towards paying closer attention to.safety standards, and then ABET certification for colleges which requires safety coursework and ethics classes for engineering students. But yikes. The Chinese seem to have a bit of a wild west approach to some of this!

[Faith-manor]

34 minutes ago, KungFuPanda said:

Hasn't the Space Force been training for this very moment???

 

LOL, I have NO idea what the Space Force is training for, and since Huntsville is the reported headquarters for it but personnel is just beginning to arrive, I am going to guess they aren't doing much at the moment.

[madteaparty]

4 hours ago, Faith-manor said:

Totally agree. It is kind of mind boggling! I mean, unfortunately, I do expect some "bean counting" here in calculating "do we fix it or not", but there is also the trial by public opinion and often that does help sway towards paying closer attention to.safety standards, and then ABET certification for colleges which requires safety coursework and ethics classes for engineering students. But yikes. The Chinese seem to have a bit of a wild west approach to some of this!

And yet, we can’t seem to manufacture chips to save our... well anything-that-requires-a-chip economy I suppose. 

[Miss Tick]

11 hours ago, madteaparty said:

And yet, we can’t seem to manufacture chips to save our... well anything-that-requires-a-chip economy I suppose. 

True! Pesky government subsidies.

[madteaparty]

6 hours ago, SusanC said:

True! Pesky government subsidies.

I don’t think that explains the extent of it. 

[Roadrunner]

I think they just don’t give a shit. They do what they want. What are you going to do about it? What did we do about Covid? Nothing. They are an authoritarian country. And a superpower. 
 

Overall, everywhere humans go, we crap all over. Oceans are full of plastic, space is full of debris. We are gross species.