Foreign media outlets, including Gizmodo, reported on the 16th (local time) that new research results have been released on the mysterious moon crash rocket incident that occurred early last year.
Last March, a rocket body floating in space collided with the back of the moon, creating two impact craters with a diameter of 18m and 16m. Afterwards, scientists began investigating the lunar impact object named ‘WE0913A’.
Initially, it was claimed that the rocket in question was the remains of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that launched the DSCOVR satellite for Earth observation in 2015. However, weight was given to the opinion that it was part of the Long March 3C rocket that launched China’s unmanned probe Chang’e 5-T1 around the moon in October 2014.
In March last year, a photo was released showing a double crater up to about 28 meters wide on the back of the moon. (Photo = NASA/Goddard/Arizona State University)
Then, China countered that the upper stage of the Long March 3C rocket burned up in the Earth’s atmosphere immediately after the launch of Chang’e 5-T1.
As the situation progressed, the debate continued over who was the owner of the space debris.
A research team led by the University of Arizona in the United States began research to verify this since last year, and the paper was recently published in the international journal ‘Planetary Science Journal’.
The researchers tracked the trajectory of the Changzhen 3C rocket for seven years before the rocket crash and the point where it hit the moon, analyzed the rocket’s light reflection characteristics and its movement, and discovered that this rocket was the propellant for China’s Chang’e 5-T1. However, it was revealed that this rocket was likely carrying a mysterious payload at the time of impact on the lunar surface.
Chang’e 5-T1 booster crashing into the moon (Video = AGI)
“This is the first time I’ve seen a double crater,” said Tanner Campbell, the lead author of the paper and a doctoral student in the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering at the University of Arizona. “In the case of Chang’e 5 T1, the impact occurred almost vertically. It created two craters of almost the same size. “To obtain it, you need two identical masses spaced apart from each other.”
As a result of tracking the movement of the rocket propellant, the researchers explained that the Chang’e 5 T1 moved in a different way than a regular rocket.
Campbell said, “Considering that the rocket body is usually an empty shell structure carrying a heavy engine on one side, its movement is expected to be slightly unstable. “But the rocket tumbled very steadily from end to end.”
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Through this, the researchers raised the possibility that something large was mounted on the front of the rocket propellant to make it move stably and create two impact craters when it collided with the lunar surface.
Because China does not disclose details about space exploration missions, the media reported that what payload was on the rocket at the time will remain a secret.