Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – A mysterious rocket reportedly hit the Moon in March. Last week, astronomers identified the site of the collision which created two craters on the dark side of the Moon.
The impact of the rocket produced a crater in the eastern part of the Moon 18 meters in diameter that overlaps with the western crater measuring 16 meters.
NASA says the double crater is likely because the rocket body has a large mass at each end. Indeed, no other rocket collisions resulted in a double crater, although the Apollo SIV-B crater was larger.
NASA and other astronomers can’t confirm whether the rocket that hit the Moon belonged to another country or company.
“Typically spent rockets have mass concentrated at the motor tip: the rest of the rocket stage in particular consists of empty fuel tanks,” said Mark Robinson, associate professor in the School of Earth and Space Exploration at NASA’s Arizona State University. Zdnet, Wednesday (29/6/2022). “Since the origin of the rocket body is uncertain, the nature of the double crater may indicate its identity.”
According to reports New York Timesthere is speculation that the rocket may be the second stage of the SpaceX Falcon 9. The rocket was launched in 2015 on behalf of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for the DSCOVR Deep Space Climate Observatory project.
Developer software Project Pluto astronomer Bill Gray discovered the first rocket in January and tracked it as it approached the Moon. He said it was part of the Falcon 9, but NASA engineers said the launch trajectory did not match the orbit of the rocket.
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