Residents Run for Cover from Chinese Rocket Debris
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Marcio Silva/Thinkstock(BEIJING) — While China successfully blasted its first-ever lunar rover into space on Monday, the country’s relatively green space program could have used a better dismount: nearly 200,000 people were evacuated when rocket parts began raining down.
Residents of southwestern Sichuan and southern Hunan provinces were forced to flee; while no casualties were reported, the roofs of two farmhouses were smashed through with spent rocket components.
Farmer Yang Weihan and his wife were woken by a deafening sound when a piece of debris smashed into their Hunan home.
“The sound was huge and scary, it was so much louder than thunder,” Yang told the official China News Agency. Yang says the area is often struck by falling rocket parts — so much so that some have even considered the necessity for rocket insurance.
He and another homeowner, Yuan Shifa, were both compensated by Xichang Satelate Launch Center; Yang got the equivalent of a little more than $1,700, while Yuan got a little more than $850 bucks.
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