Dramatic End
Well, it’s finally over.
More than a month after an errant rocket stage was spotted tumbling towards the Moon, experts say that it almost certainly crashed into the lunar surface early this morning. The derelict spacecraft made its dramatic entrance to its final resting place at 12:25 GMT or 7:25 AM ET, the BBC reports.
NASA scientists have previously announced that they will be monitoring the Moon for any changes caused by the impact — raising the possibility that we’ll soon see extraordinary images of a humanmade crater on the Moon.
Rocket Origins
One of the biggest mysteries surrounding the rocket was where exactly it came from.
Bill Gray, an independent orbital dynamics researcher who runs the near-Earth object tracker Project Pluto, initially discovered the object hurtling towards the Moon in January. At the time, he identified it as a SpaceX rocket stage used during a 2015 launch.
However, he later published a correction and said it’s actually a Chang’e 5-T1 booster from China. Beijing has denied that the rocket belongs to them — but many experts disagree, including Gray.
Whatever the case, the rocket crash will provide researchers from all over the world with a rare opportunity to see how fresh craters are formed on the lunar surface. As the old saying goes, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.”
And when life gives you a derelict rocket tumbling out of control towards the Moon, might as well see what you can learn from it.
More on the Moon rocket: Experts Say China Is Probably Lying About the Rocket Crashing Into the Moon