Friday, March 4, a rocket stage of unknown origin will crash into the Moon. Its impact will form a new crater.
An impact expected on Friday
The cosmos bears the consequences of half a century of space exploration by humans. They result in particular in the abandonment of millions of debris in orbit, which can thus harm astronauts or damage their machines. This space waste can also reach nearby stars.
As reported Releasea piece of a rocket of unknown origin will crash into the far side of the Moonaround 1:25 p.m. (Paris time), Friday, March 4. This piece will dig a new crater on the Moon.
Beijing reacts
In early February, Bill Gray spotted the object using his Virtual Telescope Project astrometry software. The American astronomer thus calculated its trajectory. Aided by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory engineer Jon Giorgini, he was able to rule out where the rocket object came from. Falcon 9designed by Space X. According to the scientist, it might be a piece from the Long March 3C sent by the Chinese in October 2014.
Shocked by Bill Gray’s theory, beijing reacted quickly. “Chang’e 5 mission rocket upper stage returned to Earth’s atmosphere safely and burned up, according to China’s tracking“, said a spokesman at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Wang Wenbin.
> To read also: SpaceX: the remains of a rocket will crash on the Moon in early March
