At the beginning of the new year of 2022, several media reported that a Falcon 9 rocket of space exploration technology company (SpaceX) will hit the lunar surface on March 4 this year. The news was a concern as soon as it was reported, as it was the first known-ever collision of space junk with the moon and raised concerns about biological contamination of the moon. However, the rocket's identity has reversed...
Since February 2015, U.S. space monitoring agencies have long been concerned about the wreckage of the Falcon IX rocket. On January 5, 2022, the department found a large number of debris flying over the moon, and after orbit calculations and observation records, researchers believe that these debris fragments will crash into Hertzplan Crater on the far side of the moon on March 4 this year.
Space debris will hit at a speed of 9,300 kilometers per hour, and although the physical impact is limited — it will only form a new mini crater — but the debris may carry Earth creatures that could contaminate the pure land of the moon.
Who exactly does the rocket wreckage belong to?
For now, the March 4 impact will still occur, but the identity of the rocket has become a mystery. The news of space debris hitting the moon was originally calculated by Bill Gray (a well-known celestial computer) and was so influential within the confines that the news did not arouse suspicion. However, Jon Giorgini, an engineer from the official NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), found that the wreckage of Falcon 9 was not close to the moon, so the object that was about to hit the moon was "someone else."
After screening, NASA believes that the object about to hit the moon on March 4 is the spacecraft wreckage from China's Chang'e-5 T1 mission...
At the end of October 2014, the mainland successfully launched the Chang'e-5 T1 test vehicle (CE5T1) into orbit with the Long March 3 C carrier rocket at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center. The Chang'e-5 T1 vehicle is a re-entry and return flight tester, and this mission is the early exploration mission of the Chang'e-5 mission, laying a solid foundation for the recovery of lunar soil.
In addition, along with the CE5T1 aircraft, it also includes a 4M radio beacon developed by Luxembourg's LuxSpace company, and the PS86X1, a micro-test vehicle of the "Pocket Spacecraft" micro-test vehicle jointly launched by European civil society organizations. The two miniature devices are also attached to the upper stage of the Long Triple C rocket and fly across the lunar surface together.
NASA engineers believe that the launch time and lunar orbit of China's Chang'e-5 T1 mission almost exactly match the orbit of the debris that will hit the moon on March 4. Jon said: "I think that's pretty convincing evidence. In this regard, Bill Gray also explained that the March 4 impact was not related to the Falcon 9 rocket and there was a possibility of biological contamination.
But in a sense, this is still only circumstantial evidence.
After calculations, the debris will hit the moon on March 4, 2022 at latitude +5.18 north and longitude 233.55 east, and the new craters created by these space debris hitting the moon will not be too large, with a diameter of only about 20. But whether it will be as foreign media says - the moon shows biological pollution, we still need to continue to track!
All in all, no matter who owns the wreckage of the impact, while the rocket wasn't sterile at liftoff, it's been in space for seven or eight years, so far the risk of biological contamination is minimal. Still, as we send more and more man-made objects to the moon, we have to be careful enough.
Source: EarthSky, Lanzhou Documentation and Information Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences