Curiosity is killing people in the U.S. as they are digging for details about the large ‘Chinese spy balloon’ flying over the states at a high altitude, and many want to know about its size.
Pentagon said the balloon, which is strongly suspected to be from China, isn’t posing any ‘”military or physical” threat to the people living in the US, but, the government cited public safety as the reason for not shooting it down.
Owing to its large size, the debris caused by the balloon and its payload being shot down could cause serious damage to civilians.
Size of Chinese ‘spy’ balloon equals three buses
ABC & News reports, a senior U.S. defense official said the Chinese balloon is as big as three buses and complete with a technology bay.
To put this into perspective, a typical city transit bus in America, as per Dimensions and Drawings, is about 12 meters long, 3 meters tall, and 2.5 meters wide. If the balloon really is the size of three buses, it’s probably 7.5 meters wide, and about 9 meters tall.
Note: this is just a calculated guess and not the actual, accurate size of the balloon.
Senator Marco Rubio said in one tweet: “This is not some hot air balloon, it has a large payload of sensors roughly the size of two city buses & the ability to maneuver independently”
Meaning of payload explained
New York Post reports, Pentagon claimed the Chinese balloon has a “payload” of surveillance equipment hanging from it. But, there is no evidence of any nuclear or radioactive content.
For the unversed, a payload is defined as the amount of goods or people any vehicle can carry. What’s in the payload varies depending on what is carrying it.
A launch vehicle typically carries a missile, whereas a spacecraft treats it as a piece of equipment.
China is looking into it
According to The Hill, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told on Friday that their government was looking into the suspected surveillance balloon which is still traveling over the US.
“We have noted relevant reports and are looking into and verifying the situation. What I want to emphasize is that before we have a clear understanding of the facts, speculations, and sensationalization will do no good to resolving the problem properly.”
She further added that China is a responsible country and they had “no intention of violating the territory and airspace of any sovereign country.”
Meanwhile, the U.S. government has maintained, it has taken necessary measures to prevent the balloon from collecting sensitive information.
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