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Will the rocket currently falling back to Earth hit anyone?

Answer: Probably not.

The Earth as seen from space.
Shutterstock.com
There’s currently an out-of-control rocket tumbling towards the Earth, but the experts say there’s no need to panic — the chances of any debris hitting someone are incredibly small.

The rocket was used to launch the core module of China’s new space station at the end of last month. After it delivered its payload, the rocket started tumbling back to Earth out of control. However, since it is a very large rocket and it is re-entering from low-earth orbit, rather than higher up, the rocket is not expected to fully disintegrate when it re-enters the atmosphere.

Experts including those at the U.S. Space Command estimate that the rocket will re-enter on May 10, give or take a few days. While this event is “one of the largest instances of uncontrolled re-entry of a spacecraft and could potentially land on an inhabited area,” according to SpaceNews, it is highly unlikely that anyone will be hit by the debris. “The risk that there will be some damage or that it would hit someone is pretty small — not negligible, it could happen — but the risk that it will hit you is incredibly tiny,” said Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist at Harvard University’s Astrophysics Center.

You can track the rocket’s current position here.
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