RT.com
01 Jul 2022, 06:13 GMT+10
NASA has discovered a double crater made when a rocket of unknown origin hit the Moon
A rocket of unknown origin crashed into the Moon, leaving an unusual crater, NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter recently revealed. Astronomers noted the rocket body heading toward the Moon late last year, and it finally hit Earth's satellite on March 4, creating an unusual double-crater formation.
The double crater suggests the rocket body "had large masses at each end," according to a press release NASA published on Friday. It consists of an eastern crater about 18 meters in diameter (19.5 yards) on top of a western crater of about 16 meters in diameter (17.5 yards).
The crater is so unusual precisely because no previous rocket body impact on the Moon has created a double crater. Four Apollo SIV-B craters were larger than the recent impact in maximum width, ranging from 35 to 40 meters (about 38 yards), though the maximum width of the new crater - 29 meters (about 31.7 yards) was similar to that of the Apollo rockets.
NASA did not mention whose rocket its orbiter had spotted in the press release, though American astronomer Bill Gray suggested in February that it was a booster stage from China's Chang'e 5-T1 lunar mission, launched in October 2014. Gray initially misidentified the rocket as a stage from a SpaceX Falcon 9.
The Chang'e-5 probe, which landed on the Moon in December 2020, gathered a number of rocks for testing back on Earth, revealing water molecules were present at rates of up to 180 parts per million in some parts of the satellite.
Several nations have been landing or planning Moon missions in recent months. Russia has scheduled its Luna-25 Moon lander mission for September, according to an announcement last month by Roscosmos head Dmitry Rogozin, while the US is aiming to launch its Artemis manned Moon mission by 2024.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon has warned that increasing collaboration between Russia and China in space poses a risk to its own supposed dominance of the domain. The US is competing with the two nations to build the first Moon base, with dreams of exploiting the potential mineral resources of Earth's only satellite and potentially even building nuclear reactors on it.
(RT.com)
Get a daily dose of Business Sun news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Business Sun.
More InformationNEW YORK, New York - U.S. investors again plowed into stocks on Friday, many convinced inflation has peaked."Markets certainly got ...
SYDNEY, NSW, Australia - Stocks in Japan surged on Friday as investors and traders returned to their desks after a ...
DHAKA, Bangladesh - Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen has stated that the Switzerland Ambassador to Bangladesh Nathalie Chuard's claims that ...
NEW YORK, New York - Stocks closed mixed the world over Thursday as investors struggled to get a clear picture ...
SYDNEY, NSW, 2000 - Stocks in Asia, with the exception of Japan, rallied on Thursday following the release of July ...
NEW YORK, New York - U.S. stocks rose sharply on Wednesday despite the latest reading that inflation in the United ...
The European Space Agency is looking for alternative launch systems after breaking away from Russia's RoscosmosThe European Space Agency (ESA) ...
Nattie's metaverse romance began with anonymous texting. At first "C" would admit only to living in a nearby town. Nattie ...
LAS VEGAS - Ukraine's top cyber official addressed a room full of security experts at a hackers convention following a ...
Washington [US], August 10 (ANI): Mark Zuckerberg's Meta has announced new WhatsApp privacy features that include the ability to hide ...
Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan has elicited a strong response from China: three days of simulated attack on Taiwan ...
Islamabad [Pakistan], August 9 (ANI): The Human Rights Commission in Pakistan (HRCP) on Tuesday strongly opposed the disruptions to ARY ...