[아하! 우주] An unwanted space rocket crashes on the far side of the moon on the fourth day… Nationality is a mystery

About 3 tons of space debris are known to collide on the far side of the moon around 9:25 pm KST on the fourth day. On this day, foreign media such as AFP reported that the rocket debris turned into space debris fell at a speed of 9,300 km / h into the Hertzsprung crater on the far side of the moon, forming a crater with a diameter of 10-20 meters. .

This space junk, known from several previous reports, is part of a rocket that was launched into space in the past. After launch, it ran out of fuel, drifted according to the gravity of Earth, Moon and Sun, then crashed into the Moon and met its end. As a result, this is the first time in history that a human has collided with the Moon, and the impact on the already heavily cratered Moon is minimal.

However, this space debris has fallen on the far side of the Moon and cannot be directly observed from Earth. In particular, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and Indian Chandrayaan 2 were located in various places and failed to capture the historic event. For this reason, no one has yet been able to provide any “photographic proof” except assuming that space debris collided with the moon. However, LRO is expected to be able to detect impact traces by observing the impact point.

In particular, the “nationality” of this space junk, which has been another concern, is expected to remain a mystery forever. Originally, American astronomer Dr. Bill Gray announced that the rocket was part of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that launched from Florida in 2015. Earth, the rocket itself ran out of fuel and became space debris.

However, Dr. Gray later reanalyzed the data and corrected that it was not a Falcon 9 missile, but a booster for the Chinese Chang’e-5-T1 missile launched in 2014. In particular, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) claimed to have identified parts of the Chinese rocket. in the reflected light of the painting while looking at space debris through a telescope. At this news, even the Chinese Foreign Ministry was furious.

“The US claims that these space debris from China is incorrect,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Wang Wenbin.

Written by Park Jong-ik, team reporter [email protected]

–