Chinese Rocket Splashes Into Indian Ocean, Crashes Near Maldives

A large segment of a Chinese rocket re-entered the Earth's atmosphere and disintegrated over the Indian Ocean on May 9, the Chinese space agency said. This come after fevered speculation over where the 18-tonne object would come down. Officials in Beijing had said there was little risk from the freefalling segment of the Long March-5B rocket, which had launched the first module of China's new space station into Earth orbit on April 29. But the US space agency NASA & some experts said China had behaved irresponsibly, as an uncontrolled re-entry of such a large object risked damage & casualties. Meanwhile, visuals from Istanbul, Turkey showed the Chinese rocket screeching across the skies. The Chinese rocket was seen crossing the skies of Oman and Madrid. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin suggested last week that China had been negligent & NASA Administrator Bill Nelson echoed that after the re-entry on May 9.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 10, 2021 10:51 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).