Remnants of a massive Chinese rocket that was descending uncontrollably back to Earth reentered the atmosphere over the Indian Ocean, the US Space Command said on Twitter. The Chinese 23-ton Long March 5B rocket, which delivered a new module to its space station, took off from Hainan Island on Sunday, July 24, and the module successfully docked with China’s orbital outpost. The rocket had since been in an uncontrolled descent toward Earth’s atmosphere — marking the third time that China has been accused of not properly handling space debris from its rocket stage. In a Saturday statement on Twitter, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson wrote China “did not share specific trajectory information” as the rocket fell back to Earth. “What we really want to know is did any pieces actually end up sitting on the ground,” McDowell told CNN.

Source: CNN July 31, 2022 02:48 UTC