Elon Musk’s Falcon 9 rocket launched in 2015 and completed a mission to bring a weather satellite into space. It turns out that part of the rocket does not have enough fuel to return to Earth.
Renowned astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell of Harvard University says it will be the first uncontrolled rocket to hit the moon. According to him, the effects of this will be “insignificant”. A volcano crater will be created.
Since 2015, the part of the rocket, which consists of an empty four-ton metal tank and a jet engine, has been in a “chaotic” orbit through space, according to McDowell. It travels in an orbit determined by the gravity of the Earth, Sun, and Moon.
8000 km / s
According to the latest calculations of experts, the projectile flies over the surface of the celestial body on March 4 at a speed of more than 8000 kilometers per hour.
“Over the past few decades, there have probably been as many as 50 large rockets that we’ve lost after launching into space,” McDowell explains, noting the millions of unwanted space objects. “There may have been rockets that hit the moon before, but we simply didn’t know about it. This will be the first time we’ll know about it.”
