A runaway rocket due to crash into the Moon on March 4 has been incorrectly identified as a piece of a SpaceX Falcon and in fact is likely to have originated from a Chinese lunar mission, according to NASA.
The object, now targeting the Moon, was first publicly disclosed by Bill Gray, an independent researcher focused on orbital dynamics and astronomical software development. He identified it in 2015 as the discarded second stage of a SpaceX Falcon rocket, used that same year to launch the US Deep Space Weather Observatory, or DSCOVR.
The object, initially named WE0913A by asteroid observers, passed the Moon two days after the launch of DSCOVR, he said.
“I and others accept the identification with the second stage as correct. The object had a similar brightness to what we would expect, and it appeared at the allotted time, moving in a reasonable orbit,” Gray said on his website.
His assessment was widely accepted by other space experts and NASA, which said it was monitoring the rocket’s trajectory.
a new identification
Over the weekend, however, Gray said he had misidentified the object’s origin after communicating with Jon Giorgini of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, who does not track space junk but keeps a careful watch on spacecraft. active companies such as DSCOVR.
“Jon pointed out that the JPL Horizons system showed that the trajectory of the DSCOVR spacecraft did not pass particularly close to the Moon. It would be a little strange if the second stage had passed directly by the Moon, while the DSCOVR was in another part of the sky. There’s always some separation, but this one was weirdly big,” Gray said.
“Analysis led by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies indicates that the object expected to impact the far side of the Moon on March 4 is likely the Chang’e 5-TI booster launched in 2014. ”, according to a note released by NASA on Monday (14).
“It is not a SpaceX Falcon 9 second stage of a 2015 mission as previously reported. This update results from the analysis of the object’s orbits in the period from 2016 to 2017.”
Gray said he later revised his data and now came up with a different explanation: he said the object was the third stage of the Chinese Long March 3C rocket used to launch its lunar orbiter in 2014.
The rocket stage is expected to reach the Moon at 5:26 am on March 4, Brasília time. However, the impact will be on the side of the Moon that is not visible from Earth. The rocket will likely disintegrate on impact and create a crater about 10 to 20 meters in diameter.
Need for official monitoring of space debris
Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard & Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, said identifying space junk “is never easy” in deep space orbit, but said Gray’s new identification is probably right. “I would give it at least 80% and maybe 90% of the chances.”
He explained: “It’s especially difficult for these things in chaotic orbits of deep space, where you see something several years after it was last seen and you try to rewind it to match it with a known mission.”
McDowell said the confusion over the rocket’s identity highlighted the need for NASA and other official agencies to monitor space debris more closely, rather than relying on the limited resources of individuals and academics.
There are about 30 to 50 lost objects in deep space, like the rocket stage, that have been missing for years, but no space agency has systematically tracked space debris this far from Earth, he said.
“It’s not like low-Earth orbit stuff where traffic is high, so garbage is a danger to other spacecraft. But it would be a good idea to know where we dump things.”
He added: “It’s not a very high priority, but I imagine the world could hire at least one person to do this correctly and perhaps demand that space agencies make their deep space trajectories public.”
More spacecraft are entering this type of orbit in the future, Gray said, and some thought needs to be done on ways to keep “outer space clean.” There are simple steps government agencies and rocket-launching corporations can take, such as making the latest known elements of orbital data publicly available.
Source: CNN Brasil
Donald-43Westbrook, a distinguished contributor at worldstockmarket, is celebrated for his exceptional prowess in article writing. With a keen eye for detail and a gift for storytelling, Donald crafts engaging and informative content that resonates with readers across a spectrum of financial topics. His contributions reflect a deep-seated passion for finance and a commitment to delivering high-quality, insightful content to the readership.
