#CHINESE ROCKET CRASH MOON FULL#

Since the impact is going to occur on the far side of the Moon, it will be out of view for Earth-based telescopes.

#CHINESE ROCKET CRASH MOON FULL#

It will be like seeing the LCROSS crater in full detail for the first time.

The accidental experiment of the upcoming crash will give planetary scientists the chance to observe a very similar crater in the light of day. NASA via WikimediaCommons Observing with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter

The impact crater will not be visible from Earth, so scientists will rely on photos from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. However, because the LCROSS rocket’s crater is permanently obscured by shadows, my colleagues and I have struggled for a decade to determine the depth of this buried ice-rich layer. This was a crucial piece of evidence to support the idea that for billions of years, comets have been delivering water and organic compounds to the Moon when they crash on its surface. By studying the composition of the dust plume lofted into the sunlight, scientists were able to find signs of a few hundred pounds of water ice that had been liberated from the Moon’s surface by the impact. I was a part of the LCROSS mission, and it was a smashing success. If you are a fan of space, you may have experienced some déjà vu reading that description – NASA performed a similar experiment in 2009 when it intentionally crashed the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS, into a permanently shadowed crater near the lunar south pole.

Virtually nothing will remain of the ill-fated rocket. Over the course of several minutes, the ejected material will rain back down to the surface around the now-smoldering crater. A cloud of vaporized rock and metal will expand from the impact point as dust, and sand-sized particles will be thrown skyward. The compression of the impact will heat up the dust and rocks and generate a white-hot flash that would be visible from space if there happened to be a craft in the area at the time. Within milliseconds, the back end of the rocket hull will be obliterated with bits of metal exploding in all directions.Ī twin shock wave will travel downward into the powdery top layer of the Moon’s surface called the regolith. The rocket is expected to crash into the vast barren plain within the giant Hertzsprung crater, just over the horizon on the far side of the moon from Earth.Īn instant after the rocket touches the lunar surface, a shock wave will travel up the length of the projectile at several miles per second. The booster may be from a Chinese Long March rocket – similar to the one seen here – launched in 2015. A deeper understanding of impact physics will go a long way in helping researchers interpret the barren landscape of the Moon and also the effects impacts have on Earth and other planets. The upcoming rocket impact will provide a fortuitous experiment that could reveal a lot about how natural collisions pummel and scour planetary surfaces. Without knowing the specifics of what created a crater, there is only so much scientists can learn by studying one. However, scientists rarely get a glimpse of the projectiles – usually asteroids or comets – that form these craters. The Moon has been a steadfast witness to solar system history, its heavily cratered surface recording innumerable collisions over the last 4 billion years. Once the dust has settled, NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter will move into position to get an up-close view of the smoldering crater and hopefully shed some light on the mysterious physics of planetary impacts.Īs a planetary scientist who studies the Moon, I view this unplanned impact as an exciting opportunity. On March 4, 2022, a lonely, spent rocket booster will smack into the surface of the Moon at nearly 6,000 mph. Editor’s note: Experts expect the crash did occur as predicted, but are still waiting for visual verification.

Chinese rocket crash moon