China denies that space junk that will collide with the Moon is its own

STR / AFP

Launch of the Chinese Long March 5B rocket in 2021

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China on Monday denied responsibility for part of a rocket, allegedly the Long March 3C, which will collide with the Moon.

According to Science Alertexperts had already said that the piece of space junk came from the Beijing’s lunar exploration program.

Initially, astronomers thought the deflected object was a piece of a SpaceX rocketwhat exploded seven years ago and was abandoned in space after completing his mission.

As was reported about three weeks ago, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket would be in collision course with the moonafter having spent almost seven years wandering through space.

Observers believed that the rocket—approximately four tons in mass—should crash into the Moon at a speed of 2.58km/second in a matter of weeks.

But, according to Space.com, Bill Graythe astronomer responsible for discovering the impending impact, has now announced have made a mistake by identifying the body on a collision course as a part of the Falcon 9 rocket that helped launch the satellite DSCOVR – Deep Space Climate Observatory em 2015.

It is now believed that space debris be in reality the second phase of the Long March 3C rocket, which launched the Chang’e 5-T1 mission in 2014, as part of the lunar exploration program of the Chinese space agency. The rocket is expected to collide with the moon on March 4th.

But the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs rejected the claim on Monday, saying the wreckage in question had “safely entered Earth’s atmosphere and been completely incinerated”.

Beijing “stands for long-term sustainability of activities in outer space,” spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a press conference.

China has set itself the goal of becoming a super space power and took a historic step last year with the launch of the longest manned mission to its new space station.

The world’s second-largest economy has invested billions in its military-led space program and hopes to send humans to the moon.