A SpaceX Rocket Is on Course , To Crash Into the Moon.
According to BBC, the Falcon 9 was launched by SpaceX in 2015 to send a space weather satellite on its journey across the cosmos.
After completing its mission, Falcon 9 ran out of the fuel needed to return to Earth, so it stayed in space.
Astronomer Jonathan McDowell, from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, said its path has been "chaotic" due to the gravitational forces of the Sun, Moon and Earth.
It's been dead -
just following the
laws of gravity, Jonathan McDowell, astronomer
from the Harvard-Smithsonian
Center for Astrophysics, via BBC.
McDowell also said this
will be the first known
occasion of an uncontrolled
rocket crashing into the moon.
BBC reports the rocket is scheduled to collide with the moon — and explode — on March 4.
It's basically a four-metric ton empty metal tank, with a rocket engine on the back. And so if you imagine throwing that at a rock at 5,000 miles an hour, it's not going to be happy, Jonathan McDowell, astronomer from the Harvard-Smithsonian
Center for Astrophysics, via BBC.
It will reportedly
leave a small crater on
the far side of the moon.
McDowell points out that while space debris poses little risk currently, there could be consequences in the future.
If we get into the future where there are cities and bases on the Moon, we want to know what's out there. It's much easier to get that organized when there is slow traffic in space, rather than waiting until it's a problem, Jonathan McDowell, astronomer from the Harvard-Smithsonian
Center for Astrophysics, via BBC
