A Chinese missile booster crashed to Earth on Friday morning, falling into the Pacific Ocean. The US Space Administration reported that debris from the Long March 5B rocket re-entered Earth’s atmosphere over the south-central Pacific Ocean at 4:01 a.m. MDT. The agency later said it could confirm a second atmospheric entry associated with the missile five minutes later as it exited the Space Command’s Area of Responsibility over the North Pacific Ocean. In response, Spain briefly closed the airspace over Catalonia and three other regions, causing hundreds of flight delays. EARTH’S MOST KNOWN BLACK HOLE ANALYZED AFTER YEARS OF HUNT China’s Mengtian Space Station Laboratory Module and a Long March 5B Y4 launch vehicle at the Wenchang launch site on October 31, 2022, in Wenchang, China. (Hou Yu/China News Service via Getty Images) China’s most powerful rocket launched into space in October, carrying the Mengtian module into orbit to attach to the main module of the country’s Tiangong space station. This is not the first time China has played roulette with the core stage, which was allowed to reach orbit without a system to guide it back to a specific point on Earth. In fact, it was the fourth uncontrolled re-entry since 2020. In July, a 25-ton Long March 5B core was dropped over the Indian Ocean. A Long March 5B rocket lifts off from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in south China’s Hainan province on October 31, 2022. (CNS/AFP via Getty Images) BLOOD MOON MOON ECLIPSE EXPECTED ON ELECTION DAY, LAST IN THREE YEARS Over the summer, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson spoke out strongly against the decision. In an emailed statement Friday, Nelson reportedly repeated those comments, saying China was taking unnecessary risks with the uncontrolled re-entry into the missile stage. “Specific trajectory information, which is necessary to predict landing zones and reduce risk, was not shared. This is the DPRK’s fourth uncontrolled re-entry since May 2020, and each of these re-entries has been the largest in 30 years. ” he said. “It is critical that all spaceflight nations be accountable and transparent in their space activities and follow established best practices, especially for the uncontrolled re-entry of large rocket body debris – debris that could well result in major damage or loss of life.” Administrator Bill Nelson speaks during a media briefing at NASA headquarters, October 11, 2022, in Washington, DC (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman told Bloomberg News on Thursday that Chinese officials “release information to the international community with an open and transparent attitude.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP According to the New York Times, Zhao Lijian, a foreign ministry spokesman, on Friday dismissed the idea that China’s handling of the missiles was unusual and said they were designed with “special technology.” Fox News Digital’s requests for comment from NASA and the China Manned Space Agency were not immediately returned. Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report. Julia Musto is a reporter for Fox News and Fox Business Digital.
