When the remains of an 18-ton Chinese space rocket began hurtling back toward Earth in an uncontrolled re-entry last week, U.S. officials voiced a pretty fair view that it might be best for that not to happen again. Ultimately, most of the rocket was destroyed Sunday when it re-entered Earth’s atmosphere and some parts of it plunged into the Indian Ocean, so no damage was done. But, rather than show any kind of determination to avoid another dangerous re-entry in future, China has hit out at the U.S. government for drawing attention to the uncontrolled descent. “Their hype and smears were in vain,” one state-run newspaper said in an editorial Sunday, according to CNN. “These people are jealous of China’s rapid progress in space technology.” Before the re-entry, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin accused the Chinese government of “failing to meet responsible standards regarding their space debris.”
