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HomeSpace & AstronomyRocket debris hits moon in March, leaving mysterious double craters

Rocket debris hits moon in March, leaving mysterious double craters

Ay'ın üstünde ikili krater oluştu

On March 4, the debris of a rocket wandering in space slammed into the far side of the moon, and scientists expected to form a crater 10 to 20 meters wide.

However, according to the latest images taken by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), it was found that the impact actually produced 2 craters, which shows that the mass of the debris body is very large at both ends, which also makes its true identity source – SpaceX or China, Reconfirmation is required.

According to the tracking results of astronomer Bill Gray at the end of last year, he found that an abandoned rocket body left in space after SpaceX launched a rocket will hit the moon in early March, causing a public uproar, but then Bill Gray clarified the interpretation error: It is not the abandoned rocket body of SpaceX that is about to hit the back of the moon, but the wreckage of China’s Long March 3C carrier rocket.

On March 4, Eastern Time, NASA confirmed that the wreckage had fallen near the Hertzsprung crater on the far side of the moon, and then just waited for lunar probes such as the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and the Indian Chandrayaan-2 probe. The spacecraft flew over the far side of the moon, and it was expected to be able to see a newly formed impact crater.

Surprisingly, the latest images from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter show that two impact craters actually formed, one 18 meters in diameter, stacked on top of the other 16 meters in diameter. Generally speaking, the mass of the abandoned rocket body after launch is concentrated on the end of the engine, and the rest is mainly an empty fuel tank.

In the past, no abandoned rocket body collided with the impact to produce double craters. This time, there are two impact craters. The wreckage may be of great mass at both ends. Since the source of the wreckage is still uncertain whether it is SpaceX, China or other national institutions, the mysterious double crater may provide further clues to trace.


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SourceNASA
Mehmet is one of the administrator of Teknonel. As a software developer, he loves to share his knowledge in related topics. He is highly familiar with the editorial process from the inception of an article idea, through the iterative process, publishing, and performance analysis as well as product reviews.

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