![]() Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. One user, for example, shared a gif of a UFO.Īnother simply wrote, “We are lucky it struck the moon, huh?” ![]() People on NASA’s Twitter post regarding the mystery rocket’s crash put forward some more, shall we say, out-of-these world theories. “I’m 99.9 percent sure it’s the China 5-T1,” tells Bill Gray-an astronomer who created software that tracks space objects-to the BBC. The Sydney Morning Herald continues to report that theories of the rocket’s origins abound: Some think it came from SpaceX while others put forward the belief that the rocket is a Chang’e 5-T1 from the 2014 Chinese lunar mission. That and the fact, as the Miami Herald points out, that no one has taken responsibility of the rocket or its actions. The release notes that “no other rocket body impacts on the Moon created double craters,” adding to this rocket’s mysterious nature. “Since the origin of the rocket body remains uncertain, the double nature of the crater may indicate its identity.” ![]() “Typically a spent rocket has mass concentrated at the motor end the rest of the rocket stage mainly consists of an empty fuel tank. “The double crater was unexpected and may indicate that the rocket body had large masses at each end,” reads the release. The resulting collision was picked up by the agency’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter which showed via images that two craters had been created from the impact. Scientists have intentionally crashed rocket stages into the moon before, including during the Apollo missions to study seismometers.A rocket reportedly crashed into the moon back in March.Īnd the weird thing is no one has any idea as to where it came from.Īccording to a NASA press release, astronomers first noticed a “rocket body” heading towards the moon late last year. While it is not unusual for leftover rocket parts to be abandoned in space after helping launch a spacecraft, scientists note this hit marks the first time an unintentional collision with the moon had been projected. Department of Defence's Space Command, which tracks low-Earth orbiting space junk, released a statement Tuesday saying China's 2014 rocket never deorbited. Chinese officials disagree and claim the booster burned up in re-entry to Earth's atmosphere years ago. Upon deeper analysis, he concluded it was a discarded rocket booster from China's Chang'e 5-T1 mission in 2014. Gray tracks space junk to ensure scientists do not confuse them with asteroids.Īccording to Gray, he initially thought the space junk was a SpaceX rocket. Experts say they dont know exactly where the space junk hit the moon. With this, the space agency said it may be able to later identify the crater formed by the impact.Īstronomer Bill Gray, an independent contractor who has created orbital calculation software used by NASA, was the first to identify the old rocket back in 2015. A wayward rocket likely just collided with the far side of the moon early this morning. However, NASA says the orbiter's mission team is assessing whether observations can be made by any changes to the lunar environment following the time of the impact. Both probes are only able to observe any region on the Moon once a month. To know exactly where the rocket hit, astronomers will need satellite images, but NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and India’s Chandrayaan-2, which both orbit the moon, were not in a position to observe the impact as it happened. Scientists say the rocket is expected to have created a crater within the existing crater approximately 10 to 20 metres across, roughly the size of a basketball court. In part because it hit the far side of the moon, the strike wasn't directly observed by astronomers. However, there is no proof yet of the impact.Īstronomers say the space junk, which had been hurtling through space for years, hit the moon's far side, meaning it could take months to find.Īccording to orbital calculations on speed and trajectory using Earth-based telescopes, the old rocket crashed into the moon in a large, existing crater on Friday at 7:25 a.m. Scientists believe a roughly four-ton discarded rocket has slammed into the moon while travelling at 9,300 kilometres per hour.
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