• For full details of graphics available/in preparation, see Menu -> Planners
Graphic shows details of the strike.
GN42240EN

SPACE

SpaceX rocket on course to crash into Moon

By Jordi Bou

March 4, 2022 - A spent SpaceX rocket is on a collision course with the moon, likely the first time a piece of “space junk” will unintentionally strike the lunar surface.

On February 11, 2015. the Falcon 9 rocket launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, carrying the Deep Space Climate Observatory satellite on SpaceX’s first deep space mission.

After completing its long burn and sending the satellite on into space, the second stage booster did not have enough fuel to return to Earth and it tumbled around in chaotic orbit for seven years.

According to Bill Gray, who writes the widely used Project Pluto software to track near-Earth objects, asteroids, minor planets, and comets, the booster is expected to impact the far side of moon near equator, at a velocity of around 2.58km/s.

Observation of the subsurface material ejected by the collision could provide valuable scientific data.

Sources
PUBLISHED: 26/01/2022; STORY: Graphic News; PICTURES: NASA, Newscom
Advertisement