Moon mission debris rains down on villagers’ property
Print Edition
Two villagers in central China’s Hunan Province have received compensation after debris from the first stage of a Long March-3B carrier rocket fell on their property.
The rocket remains dropped on Suining County at around 1:39am on Monday, nine minutes after the Chang’e-3 lunar mission launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, the Xiaoxiang Morning Herald reported.
No one was hurt as more than 160,000 people had been evacuated before the launch.
Although he was some distance away, Yang Weihan, whose barn was hit, said: “The huge sound really scared me. It sounded much louder than thunder.”
Tiles were smashed and beams broken and nearly 1,000 kilograms of rice ruined, he said.
Yang received 10,800 yuan (US$1,773) compensation from the local government.
Yuan Shifa, who found the eaves of his house smashed, was given 5,200 yuan.
Rocket debris has been falling on Suining since the early 1990s.
Military personnel from the launch center would collect the debris for recycling while local governments handled compensation claims in the case of injuries or damage.
The Chang’e-3 mission comprises a moon lander and a moon rover called Yutu, or Jade Rabbit. Yutu will land on the lunar surface in the middle of the month if all goes according to plan.
Tasks for Yutu include surveying the moon’s geological structure and surface, while looking for natural resources.
So far, only the United States and the former Soviet Union have managed to make a soft-landing on the moon.
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