Thread by @AJ_FI

The China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT), the designer of the Long March 5B, published an explainer on types of rocket debris. Without directly mentioning the 5B, it says don't worry, things returning from orbit burn up, nothing slams into Earth like "scifi movies"

It adds that China fulfills international responsibilities and carries out passivation (propellant & battery depletion to prevent debris-causing explosions). It also states measures being adopted to tackle issues of falling stages inland in China. mp.weixin.qq.com/s/PkrjyBxNizHV…

The piece also describes the very long odds of anyone being hurt, including comparisons to extremely unlikely events of being hit by a meteorite. A Global Times piece today goes further, citing Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying, saying uncontrolled reentries...

Are common practice internationally. "Hua also criticized some US media and certain individuals for their double-standards in dealing with the issue," citing the SpaceX 2nd impact, and the contrast in media coverage. globaltimes.cn/page/202105/12…

An earlier GT report said the US was "jealous" of Chinese progress, but that "so-called 'uncontrolled' trajectory refers to the loss of propulsion, but in no way means that China has lost track of its flight path and real-time location." globaltimes.cn/page/202105/12…

Also: "the [US and other ]prediction of its flight trajectory and reentry performance parameters can be used as an exercise to predict the reentry parameters of a real missile warhead. It is a reference for their future precise anti-missile operations,"

So, takeaways seem to be:
1) no distinction b/w 1st & 2nd stages
2) You haven't lost control if you can still track it (?)
3) China is the victim here
4) This will happen again for CZ-5B Y3 and Y4 in 2022
5) Maybe newspapers will have cutout @planet4589 masks