--- title: "Oops: China Just Dropped a Huge Rocket Piece Back to Earth" description: "Parts of China's gigantic Long March 5B rocket have finally made their uncontrolled descent back to Earth on Monday, splashing into the Atlantic Ocean." date: "2020-05-12" modified: "2020-05-13" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/oops-china-dropped-huge-rocket-piece" categories: - "Off-World" - "Space" tags: - "china" - "long march-5" - "rocket" --- # Oops: China Just Dropped a Huge Rocket Piece Back to Earth ![Parts of China's gigantic Long March 5B rocket have finally made their uncontrolled descent back to Earth on Monday, splashing into the Atlantic Ocean.]() *\Image: CCTV\* Parts of China's gigantic Long March 5B rocket [finally made their uncontrolled descent]() back to Earth on Monday, [*CNN* reports](). Pieces of debris soared over the continental United States before splashing into the Atlantic Monday afternoon, as [confirmed by the US Air Force](). "For a large object like this, dense pieces like parts of the rocket engines could survive reentry and crash to Earth," Harvard-Smithsonian astronomer Jonathan McDowell told *CNN*. "Once they reach the lower atmosphere they are traveling relatively slowly, so worst case is they could take out a house." The rocket had originally sent an [experimental spacecraft]() into Earth's orbit earlier this month — but the empty core of the rocket started hurtling back through the Earth's atmosphere as it made its way down, without any technology to alter its course. When it hit the water, it was likely quite the belly flop. "At 17.8 tons, it is the most massive object to make an uncontrolled reentry since the 39-tonne Salyut-7 \[spacecraft\] in 1991," McDowell wrote in [a tweet]() last week. Only larger pieces of the Skylab in 1979 and the Columbia space shuttle in 2003 made more massive uncontrolled descents back down to Earth. Pieces of debris careening through Earth's atmosphere are difficult to track. As of Monday morning, "potential reentry areas" still included parts of Australia, US, and Africa [according to McDowell](). "The Air Force's final prediction was plus or minus half an hour, during which time it went 3/4 of the way around the world. It's pretty hard to do any better," McDowell told *CNN*. *Update: As it fell, the rocket [reportedly dropped pieces over parts of Africa]().* **READ MORE:** [One of the largest uncontrolled pieces of space debris fell down to Earth today]() \[*CNN*\] **More on the rocket:** *[A Massive Chinese Rocket Is Plummeting Out of the Sky Right Now]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()