The rocket was used in 2015 to put a climate-monitoring satellite into Earth orbit, then left abandoned in space.
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It wasn’t planned, but SpaceX will finally land on the moon this year…albeit not in one piece. On Wednesday, January 26, astronomers announced that the second stage of the Falcon 9 rocket will crash into the moon’s surface in March after they recalculated the trajectory of the machine that has been left deserted in space since it was launched there. Seven years. The rocket was used in 2015 to orbit a climate-monitoring satellite on Earth, the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR).
Since that date, the second stage of the spacecraft has been floating in the universe in an orbit called “chaotic” By mathematicians, because it is difficult to predict, explained astronomer Bill Gray, who was the first to recognize the new path. He explained that the object passed close to the moon in early January, changing its orbit. A week later, the expert was able to observe the piece of the rocket again and saw that it should collide with the other side of the moon on March 4. After appealing to amateur astronomers to make additional observations, the data was confirmed. The craft will hit the lunar surface at a speed of more than 9,000 km / h. “I’ve been tracking space junk like this for about 15 years, and this is the first unintended impact on the Moon.” revealed, Bill Gray noted.
According to astronomer Jonathan McDowell, similar effects may have occurred in the past, without our knowledge. “There were at least 50 objects left in deep space in the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s, just left there, untracked.”He explained to AFP. Today’s sights you don’t find them all. “It is possible that some accidentally hit the moon”, Rule. Next March, the explosion of this nearly four-ton body will not be visible from Earth when it occurs. But that should cause a crater that scientists can observe later.
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