The rocket stage has been cruising through the Earth-moon system for seven years.
"The upcoming Falcon 9 lunar impact illustrates well the need for a comprehensive regulatory regime in space, not only for the economically crucial orbits around Earth but also applying to"For international spacefarers, no clear guidelines exist at the moment to regulate the disposal at end of life for spacecraft or spent upper stages sent to Lagrange points," ESA officials wrote in the statement.
"Potentially crashing into the moon or returning and burning up inThe Falcon 9 upper stage will strike the moon on March 4 at 7:25 a.m. EST on the lunar far side near the equator, according to observers' calculations. That's just an estimate, albeit a precise one; followup observations should sharpen the accuracy of forecasts. One such calculation comes from astrodynamics engineer Michael Thompson, of Advanced Space in Westminster, Colorado. He's generated a plot and a visual to show where the upper stage may crash. Thompson built upon the work by Bill Gray of Project Pluto, who collects and analyzes observations of near-Earth objects. It was Gray who discovered the crash course of the SpaceX upper stage. Project Pluto posts a subset of raw observations made by users around the world. Using these observations, Thompson performed his own orbit determination process in addition to the processes run by Gray., very similar to the prediction generated by Gray. Impact will be near the lunar limb as viewed from Earth, according to these calculations. Most of the distribution lies slightly on the moon's far side. Based on current data, the impact is not expected to be near any NASA Apollo or Chinese lunar exploration sites.The coming crash of a Falcon 9 upper stage on the moon isn't expected to affect the sites of any surface missions.The predicted impact zone is far away from the current location of China'sEven given the large uncertainties in the attitude of the rocket body and the resulting uncertainties in the solar radiation pressure effects on it, an impact much closer to Chang'e 4 is unlikely, Thompson added.Related stories:
Please follow us on Google to support usUnited States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News: You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Rollout of NASA's new moon rocket to launch pad delayed at least a monthThe highly anticipated rollout of NASA's big new moon rocket to its launch pad in Florida for final tests before a first flight has been delayed by at least a month, until March at the earliest, the U.S. space agency said on Wednesday.
Read more »
SpaceX launches classified spy satellite as rapid-fire launch sequence continuesSpaceX's rapid-fire launch pace — six orbit-class missions in 28 days — follows a record 31 Falcon 9 flights in 2021.
Read more »
SpaceX launches classified spy satellite for US military, lands rocketA Falcon 9 rocket carrying the NROL-87 payload lifted off at 3:27 p.m. EST (2027 GMT).
Read more »
Lego Star Wars Millennium Falcon reviewThe Lego Star Wars Millennium Falcon is a great alternative to the $800/£700 beast.
Read more »
The Falcon 9 may now be the safest rocket ever launchedThe Falcon 9 may now be the safest rocket ever launched - by SciGuySpace
Read more »
SpaceX launches third rocket in four days, putting up another 49 Starlink satellitesSpaceX keeps up rapid launch cadence with sixth orbital flight in just 28 days.
Read more »