NASA's Lunar Orbiter To Search For Impact Crater Left By Rocket

NASAThe Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter will be used to hunt the crater left after a rocket hit the surface of the moon on March 4.

The origin of the rocket is under debate, with the leading theory suggesting that it was launched by China The National Space Administration (CNSA) in 2014, as part of the Chang’e 5-T1 mission, the forerunner of the launch, in which the moon rocks return to Earth.

The Chinese government denies this, saying it is “very careful about its post-launch disposal policies”, and tracking US space forces suggests that the Chang’e 5-T1 rocket burned into the Earth’s atmosphere in 2015.

Whoever launched the rocket must crash into the surface of the moon on March 4, and although it will not be able to see the impact, NASA says its Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter will be able to detect the consequences.

It is planned to crash into the far side of the moon, beyond the reach of terrestrial telescopes. But NASA’s satellite could use its cameras to search for the crash site.

NASA says it will not be easy to find, and the search, as well as the processing of images taken before and after the impact, can take weeks to months.

The origin of the rocket is under debate, with the leading theory suggesting that it was launched by the Chinese National Space Administration (CNSA) in 2014 as part of the Chang’e 5-T1 mission, the forerunner of the launch, which saw moon rocks return to Earth

The element, which now floats near the moon, was first identified as part of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket by Bill Gray, developer of the astronomical software Project Pluto, from a mission that launched the Deep Space Climate Observatory satellite.

However, subsequent observations show that it corresponds more closely to 2014-065B, which is a booster phase for Change’e 5-T1.

This rocket was launched into space in 2014 as part of the CNSA program to study the moon and acted as a test field for the mission that would return the samples to Earth.

Gray writes that the mission accelerator was first seen to sail in space in March 2015 by the Catalina Sky Survey.

As the booster passed the moon two days after the launch of the SpaceX DSCOVR, he said he and other astronomers “accepted the second stage identification as correct.”

NASA said in late January that it would try to monitor the crater that would form from the explosion at the site, thanks to the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.

Since then, plans have evolved rapidly, and NASA hopes to use the orbiter to look for changes in the lunar surface over time.

“The mission team is assessing whether observations of changes in the lunar environment related to the impact can be made, and later identified the crater formed by the impact,” a NASA spokesman told Space.com.

The booster helped launch the Chang’e 5-T1 spacecraft, the forerunner of the Chang’e 5 mission, which collected samples from the moon and returned them to China.

“This unique event provides an exciting research opportunity. After the impact, the mission can use its cameras to identify the location of the impact, comparing older images with photos taken after the impact.

“Searching for the impact crater will be a challenge and could take weeks to months.”

Earlier, the agency called it an “exciting research opportunity.”

THE CHANG’E 5-T1 MISSION

Chang’e 5-T1 is an experimental robotic spacecraft that was launched to the moon on October 23, 2014.

Its purpose was to conduct tests to re-enter the atmosphere of the capsule design, planned to be used in the Chang’e 5 mission (eventually launched in 2020).

The Chang’e 5-T1 rocket accelerator is involved in a collision with the moon, which is scheduled for March 4, 2022.

That’s what Mark Robinson, a professor of Earth and space research at Arizona State University, said. New York Times in January, it is estimated that the item weighs about four tons and moves at 5,700 miles per hour.

It is expected to carve a crater about 65 feet in diameter on the moon’s surface, slightly longer than a 10-pin bowling alley.

Despite his identity, the collision course has rekindled the debate over space debris and who is legally responsible for tracking space debris floating outside the Earth’s atmosphere.

According to NASA, there is about 23,000 fragments bigger than softball orbiting the Earth.

In 2021, an warned the European Commission expert that unwanted debris left by humans in low Earth orbit has become the equivalent of a “new floating plastic island.”

There are currently less than 200 large pieces of space debris around the moon, but with 50 missions planned by the United States, China

Earlier, the LRO was used to find various landing sites on Apollo, previously lost sites from previous rocket launches and unusual features of our moon.

It is also used by NASA to create high-resolution maps of the lunar surface and to look for signs of water that will be used by future astronauts.

NASA says it will not be easy to find, and searching, as well as processing images taken before and after the impact, can take weeks to months

NASA plans to send the first woman and the first man of color to land on the moon by the end of the decade, which is currently scheduled for 2025.

Known as Artemis’ missions, it will also create a stable presence in lunar orbit, in the form of a lunar portal, which will make it easier to visit the surface.

Finding water and oxygen on the moon will be key to its sustainable future as a base for humanity, experts say, and a British company recently announced plans for a machine that can extract oxygen from lunar rocks.

Thales Alenia Space has won a contract with the European Space Agency for the project, which could be launched into the lunar atmosphere over the next two years.

COSMIC FRAGMENTS FROM A TEST OF A RUSSIAN ANTI-SATELLITE ROCKET CAME 47 FEETS OF THE EXCLUSION OF CHINESE SCIENTIFIC SITUATION QINGHUAR IN 20 YEARS IN 22 YEARS OLD

Space debris from Russian anti-satellite missile test comes 47 feet (14.5 meters) from impact ChinaTsinghua Science Satellite this week, Beijing said in January.

Nearly the gap between Qinghua and the piece of debris, called 49863, occurred at 2:49 a.m. GMT on Jan. 18, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) said, based on tracking data.

The two sites passed at a relative speed of more than 11,700 miles per hour, according to the CNSA.

RussiaThe country’s wreckage comes from its 4,410-pound Cosmos 1408 satellite, which the country wiped out in November during its “anti-satellite missile test.”

Cosmos 1408 launched in 1982 and was deliberately destroyed by the Russians because it was no longer operational.

Tsinghua is a research payload built at a Chinese university launched into orbit in August 2020 aboard the Long March 2D rocket.