A SpaceX After spending nearly seven years in space, experts say the rocket is on track to collide with the moon.
There’s a booster Originally launched from Florida In February 2015 as part of an interplanetary mission to send a space weather satellite to travel one million miles.
But after its engine had been idle for a long time, it sent the NOAA space climate lab on its way. Locking point – four times more gravity-neutral than the Moon and in direct alignment with the Sun – secondary decay of a rocket.
At this point, there isn’t enough fuel to return to Earth’s atmosphere, but “there is no escape from the gravitational pull of the Earth-Moon system,” meteorologist Eric Berger explained in a recent post. Ars Technica.
“So it’s been following a rather chaotic orbit since February 2015,” Berger added.
Space observers believe the rocket – about four metric tons of “space debris” – will collide with the moon at a speed of about 2.58 km/h within a few weeks.
Bill Gray, who writes software to track objects, asteroids, asteroids and comets close to Earth, said the top-tier Falcon 9 will strike on March 4, far from the Moon near the equator.
Data analyst said in a recent blog post Letter The material “created a close lunar orbit on January 5” but “will have a definite impact on March 4”.
“It only came to our attention then [of space junk hitting the moon] I know that, ”added Gray.
Due to the unexpected effect of the sun’s “push” and the “ambiguity in measuring rotation time” on the rocket, the exact location of the rocket’s impact is unclear, which may slightly alter its orbit.
“This unexpected effect is very small, but will accumulate between now and March 4th.”
As for whether the conflict can be seen from Earth, Gray says it will go unnoticed.
“Most of the moon is on its way, and even if it is near, the impact occurs two days after the new moon.”
Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist at Harvard University, wrote that March 4 could be impactful, but that it was “no big deal”.
For listeners: Yes, the second Falcon 9 second stage remaining in high orbit in 2015 will hit the moon on March 4. It’s interesting, but not a big deal.
– Jonathan McDowell (@ planet4589) January 25, 2022
–
However, space enthusiasts believe that impacts can provide valuable data.
Berger hopes the event will allow tracking of underground objects emitted by rocket impacts, while Gray says it has “rooted roots in lunar impacts”.
“We already know what will happen if trash hits the earth; There’s not much to learn from it,” he said.
–
