First unplanned crash on the moon
Dozens of rocket parts have already hit the earth's satellite. Now, for the first time, an object will come down unintentionally. The research community is looking forward to the event in different ways.
Several parts of rockets and probes have already hit the Earth's moon. And each time they were planned impacts. Now, on Friday, March 4, 2022, at approximately 1:25 p.m. Central European Time, space debris will unintentionally hit the far side of the moon for the first time. The research community looks forward to the fact with excitement, but also concern. For example, the crash could uncover ancient previously unexplored lunar material. At the same time, it is apparent that space debris would have to be better monitored to avoid hazardous scenarios for Earth.
William Gray, an independent astronomer in the U.S., was one of the first to discover the piece of junk using astrometry software he programmed himself. At first, he identified it as the second stage of a Falcon 9 rocket from the private U.S. space company SpaceX, but then he corrected his observations: The object was a Chinese upper stage, presumably from the Chang'e 5-T1 mission rocket, he said. It launched a probe in 2014 that orbited the moon for testing and then returned to Earth.
The rocket stage will impact on the far side of the Moon, near the crater Hertzsprung. Therefore, the event cannot be observed directly from Earth. However, probes currently flying around the moon may be able to locate the crash site.
China: Space debris did not come from Chinese rocket
According to a report by Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa), China denied that the space debris came from one of its rockets. "China has taken note of expert analysis and media reports on the matter," said Wang Wenbin, a spokesman for Beijing's Foreign Ministry. According to his own findings, he said, the rocket in question burned up.
William Gray, who says he is the only one observing distant space debris, sees no cause for concern with this impact. However, he said, it is problematic that the orbits of objects like the Chinese rocket part are not predictable over the long term. The rocket stage has a "chaotic" orbit and can also pick up speed, he said. "So the small concern would be that such a piece of junk would hit the Earth," Gray writes on his blog. In 2015, for example, rocket parts had entered the atmosphere over Sri Lanka, but burned up there.
Crash is an opportunity for research
More and more researchers are also concerned about an intact environment on the moon. As the scientific journal "Nature" reports, one group has even published a declaration of lunar rights, which, however, is not legally binding. It promotes not to touch the moon further.
Other experts, however, see an opportunity for research. Since 1959, space agencies have had space probes and rocket stages strike in a planned way to create tremors to study the properties of the moon's crust. Ulrich Köhler of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) tells dpa, "The goal was [also] to geochemically record the resulting ejection cloud - for example, to be able to detect ice molecules in sealed-off craters." Köhler believes the upcoming crash could also provide new data. "The lunar soil has matured over millions of years due to solar wind, cosmic rays and impacted micrometeorites. The impact now exposes virtually unaltered material - and on the barely studied far side of the moon at that."
According to data from a team led by Vishnu Reddy of the University of Arizona in Tucson, there are about 150 objects floating around the moon. Of those, only a small fraction are actively in use for research - 90 percent are space debris, he said. The first spacecraft to crash into the moon in a planned manner was Luna 2 in 1959. The last time space debris fell was during a Chinese space mission in 2020.
Spectrum of Science
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