Four-tonne SpaceX rocket stage crashes into Moon

The Story in Brief

A discarded SpaceX Falcon 9 upper stage, weighing four tonnes and roughly the size of a school bus, is believed to have struck the Moon near Einstein Crater early on Wednesday. The Times of India reports that it hit at about 5,400 miles per hour, with an energy equivalent to roughly three tonnes of TNT. NASA estimates the impact may have formed a crater 60 feet wide and 12 feet deep, though other estimates reach 100 feet.

The European Southern Observatory detected sodium and lithium in the dust plume, which lasted five to 10 minutes. Scientists hope NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and South Korea’s Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter will image the site. SpaceX said solar activity and gravitational forces made the collision unintentional but unavoidable. The incident has renewed scrutiny of how rocket hardware is discarded near the Moon.

The Indian Opinion

Claims that the crash proves space is already out of control go too far, just as dismissing it as harmless litter is too casual. The Moon faces regular impacts, but human hardware can complicate future missions and contaminate scientific readings. The useful test is whether agencies publish clear disposal rules for lunar trajectories and follow them. Will the recovered images show only a crater, or identifiable rocket debris?

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

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