China’s Rocket dropping habbit/ china’s Rocket debris crashed on earth.
Introduction.
On the 3rd of January 2019, China became the first nation to
successfully land a spacecraft on the far side of the Moon. This incredible
achievement showed just how impressive China’s space program has become. With
the most amount of annual launches and the capability of launching humans into
orbit, China is now regarded as one of the most powerful space programs in the
world. But among all of the success, there is a dark side to China’s Space
Program.
Why chanies Rockets Crashed?
With their extremely relaxed safety standards, rockets are
frequently launched over inhabited areas - sometimes crashing into populated towns
and villages. In this video, we’re going to look at why China began launching
over inhabited areas in the first place. We’re also going to look at how their
quest to develop reusable rockets might fix this issue altogether. In the midst
of the cold war, the US and the Soviet Union were constantly demonstrating
their advancements in nuclear weapons and missile technology.
In 1957, the Soviets launched the
first ever satellite into orbit - and China realised it needed to create its
own space program in order to keep up. Over the course of two
decades, China built three main launch sites - capable of launching missiles
and satellites into orbit. These launch sites were built thousands of kilo meters
inland to make them less exposed to enemy attacks. But this came at a cost,
since rockets had to be launched directly over populated areas. When choosing
the best location for a launch site, there are a couple of factors that come
into play. As a rocket leaves the launch pad, it pitches over to gain the
incredible amount of horizontal velocity needed to get into orbit. Because of
this, launch sites are typically located on the coast where falling rocket
parts can safely fall into the ocean.
Some Factors.
Another factor that
determines the location of a launch site is the latitude. Launch sites closer
to the equator benefit from the extra speed of the Earth’s rotation, meaning
the rocket requires less energy to get into orbit. But in the midst of the Cold
War - and with tensions at an all time high, China went inland and further
north for their launch sites. Throughout the 60’s and 70’s, China quickly became
one of the major powers in space - creating heavy lift rockets and successfully
launching and recovering a satellite. But in a rush to catch up to the American
and Soviet space programs, safety standards became less of a priority. In 1996,
China were launching their largest rocket ever built, the Long March 3B.
As soon as it left
the launch pad, it immediately began veering off course before crashing into a
nearby village 20 seconds later. This disaster killed at least 6 people –
however many reports outside of China estimate that the death toll was in the
hundreds. Although this disaster was caused by an unexpected fault in the
rocket, it didn’t stop China from launching over populated areas. Over the last
10 years, there have been several reports of rocket debris falling onto
people’s homes. Many of China’s launches take place from their Xi Chang launch
site. As the Long March 3B launches, the 4 boosters are dropped shortly before
the enormous first stage. Although China try to drop these rockets stages onto
unpopulated areas of for rest, there are around 14 villages directly in the
path of the launch site. A few days before these launches take place, the
government send out evacuation notices to the local residents - telling them to
turn off their power and find a safe place to hide. To make matters worse, the
Long March 3B rocket uses hypergolic fuel which is extremely toxic - so
residents are told to stay far away from the debris once it has landed. Every
nation has its own style of operating in space, but China’s history with space
has led many other nations to lose trust in them. Despite having one of the
most advanced space programs in the world, China has never been allowed to
participate in the International Space Station. Even though China would bring a
large amount of money to the table, the US officially banned them from the ISS
since they feared China would only use the opportunity to steal technology. But
when it comes to dealing with human safety, it’s not surprising that China
weren’t allowed to take part. But China is finally doing something to breakaway
from their rocket dropping habit. A new launch site has been built on the
island of Hainan, which will allow some of China’s largest rockets to launch
over sea. China has started to add grid fins to some of their rockets - similar
to the ones seen on the Falcon 9. This gives the rocket the ability to steer itself
to a precise point as it falls out of the sky. Although this is mostly likely a
sign that China is trying to develop a reusable rocket, it at least has the
benefit of saving innocent people from falling rocket stages.
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