[meteorite-list] Rocket Debris from Chang'e 3 Launch Damages Villagers' Houses

[Ron Baalke]

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/12/03/china-moon-rocket-village-destroyed_n_4376222.html

Chinese Space Rocket Debris Falls To Earth And Wrecks Villagers' Houses
Huffington Post UK
December 3, 2013
 
China's recent blast-off of it's first ever lunar landing mission may 
have marked a watershed in the country's galactic ambitions - but try 
telling that to villagers in Suining.

What appears to be debris from the 'Jade Rabbit' launch fell to Earth 
and wrecked a couple of houses.

A resident told the Xiaoxiang Morning Post: "Three of the roof beams have 
crashed down on our house, and a big hole has been punched into our barn."

[Photo of large hole in roof with large rocket nozzle on floor]
 
Another said: "The huge sound scared the living daylights out of me."

Authorities paid around £1,100 in compensation to those affected.

Worryingly this is not the first time it has happened. The county has 
been hit by debris nearly 20 times since the 1990s.

[Closeup photo of roof damage]
 
The unmanned Chang'3 3 lander and the Yutu rover lifted off atop a Long 
March 3D rocket early on Monday morning, local time, from the Xichang 
launch centre in Sichuan province.

[Photo of smaller piece of rocket debris]

China aims to land the craft on the Moon by mid-December, becoming the 
first man-made object to safely land on our only natural satellite for 
37 years. Using landing rockets the craft will hover about 100m from the 
surface, before picking a good landing spot using automated systems, and 
slowly descending.

The last craft to land on the Moon was the Luna 24 robot, sent by the 
Soviet Union in 1976.