A section of a Chinese scientific satellite that was returning
from orbit crashed into an apartment building on Friday, wrecking
the top floor but causing no injuries, according to the Sunday
Tianfu Morning News.
The cylindrical segment crashed into the four-story building in
Penglai, a village in southwest China's Sichuan
Province. A woman who lived in the apartment had reportedly
walked out the door just five minutes earlier.
A photo in the Tianfu Morning News showed the
kettle-shaped capsule, apparently about two meters long, lying amid
broken bricks, beams and roof tiles. Another photo showed the
capsule being lifted from the building as spectators crowded onto
surrounding rooftops.
"The satellite landed in our home. Maybe this means we'll have
good luck this year,'' the tenant of the wrecked apartment, Huo
Jiyu, was quoted as saying.
The crash resulted from weather conditions and problems in the
unit's propulsion system, according to Chen Zugui, senior designer
of spacecraft navigation and control systems at the China Academy
of Space Technology, or "5th Academy."
Chen said that China's satellite landing technologies are mature
and the nation leads the world in landing accuracy. He noted that
there have been no human injuries in 30 years of satellite
landings, and assured the public that there is no need to
worry.
The section that hit the apartment had been detached from a
satellite launched 18 days previously. The rest of the satellite is
expected to remain in orbit, according to the Xinhua News
Agency.
(China.org.cn October 18, 2004)