Over the past few days, concerns have been growing among people after reports came in that a large portion of a Chinese rocket, Long March 5B, is set to make an uncontrolled and unpredictable re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere on the weekend. The ‘think skinned’ aluminum alloy exterior is expected to burn up in the atmosphere, but experts say many pieces of debris will survive the fall. Plotting the exact trajectory of the debris is difficult. However, space agencies are tracking the path of the rocket. So, how can you track the Long March 5B rocket falling on Earth? In this article, we bring you the Chinese Rocket tracker live map and other details through which you can stay updated on the uncontrolled ‘homecoming’ of the rocket.

Last month, the Long March 5B rocket launched the first stage of the Chinese space station Tianhe into low-Earth orbit. Under international guidelines, rockets are supposed to return to the planet in a controlled way, but Long March 5B is spiraling out of control. The rocket is reportedly 30 meters long and will be the largest to ever have an ‘uncontrolled’ re-entry into Earth. Long March 5B is completing an orbit of our planet roughly every 90 minutes, which makes its final destination extremely difficult to predict.

Because of its size and the speed at which it is travelling, most of it will burn up in the atmosphere when it re-enters. But there is a risk some of the debris could make landfall, and no one has a good idea about when and where it might land. The exact location or time cannot be predicted, however, as per various media outlets, the debris is expected to re-enter and crash between 1:30 PM UTC (7:30 PM IST) on May 8 and 7:30 PM UTC on May 9 (1:00 AM IST on May 10).

Chinese Rocket Tracker Live Map: How to Track Long March 5B?

A number of websites are tracking the rocket. You can visit orbit.ing-now which uses radar data to show in real-time where the rocket is over Earth. On maps, it looks like a wave. As time goes on, it moves closer and closer to Earth. Besides, updated information about the rocket’s whereabouts is being posted on Space-Track.org.

Scientists believe the odds of the rocket landing in an inhabited area are very slim since so much of the Earth’s surface is covered by ocean, and that part which is land includes huge areas that are uninhabited.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 08, 2021 10:19 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).