March 4 2022 Moon Crash: What Really Happened? The Moon is a celestial body. It collided with a leftover rocket stage on March 4, 2022, causing craters on its surface.
NASA and other space agencies have completed numerous space missions. It was, however, the first time a rocket stage impacted with the Moon.
The rocket stage is thought to have been from a rocket that was launched in 2015. Let’s take a closer look at the collision.
March 4 2022 Moon Crash: What Really Happened?
On March 4, 2022, around 7:25 a.m. ET, the moon was hit by the discarded rocket stage which has been drifting in deep space since 2015. After the crash, the stage was destroyed and made a huge crater near the far side of Hertzsprung crater.
Due to the crash on the moon, a plum of sharp and corrosive dust lingered around its orbit for hours. This prediction was done by astronomer Bill Gray in January.
For those asking: yes, an old Falcon 9 second stage left in high orbit in 2015 is going to hit the moon on March 4. It's interesting, but not a big deal.
— Jonathan McDowell (@planet4589) January 25, 2022
He ran a computer program that told the rocket stage’s trajectory and it also calculated that the rocket stage WE0913A would smash into the moon on March 4, 2022.
On further investigation, it was known that the rocket stage was 10 feet across and 41 feet tall, and scientists believed that the object was an upper rocket stage.
Rocket Crashed During Landing And Parts Collided With The Moon on 4th March 2022
Many astronomers ad scientists talked about the rocket’s part that got collided and crashed on its landing on the moon on 4th March 2022. Similarly, they also looked at the event very carefully.
The crash took place on the far side of Hertzsprung crater, and it made a sharp reminder regarding space junk. The satellites and rocket that gets launched and their remnant wandering in space affects further projects in the future.
Here is Bill Gray's map of the predicted impact site on the Moon pic.twitter.com/wr3XkZQrW5
— Jonathan McDowell (@planet4589) March 4, 2022
It is a must to know how to minimize the space junk as it affects the space scientist to carry out their activities in space or propel rockets from the earth.
Where Did the Rocket Come From? Origin Explored
Initially, the rocket stage that crashed on the Moon on 4th March 2022 was regarded as Space X Falcon 9 as it had delivered the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s DSCOVR satellite to deep space in 2015.
But later, it was known that it had ended up orbiting the sun and was nowhere near the moon. On further investigation, it was clear that it was Chang’e 5-T1 mission from China that was launched in late 2014.
Similarly, a comparison of the rocket stage with the Falcon 9 and China’s rocket stage also confirmed that it was from China’s mission rocket in late 2014.
