Astronomers have said that the rocket is now on track to hit the Moon in early March.
A SpaceX rocket that was launched from Earth into space 7 years ago is on course to hit the Moon in early March, as per a report quoting astronomers.
The Falcon 9 booster was launched by SpaceX, the rocket company belonging to billionaire Elon Musk, in 2015. It has been floating in space, after it was launched by the company to send its first space weather satellite on a journey of over a million kilometers.
Once the mission was accomplished, the second stage launch vehicle was left floating in space with neither enough fuel to come back to Earth nor the energy to escape the Earth-Moon system’s gravity. Astronomers have said that the rocket is now on track to hit the Moon on March 4.
New data that was recently collated by noted astronomer Bill Gray, who is the creator of the Project Pluto software used in tracking near-Earth objects, suggests the possibility of a March 4 collision. As per Gray, the upper stage of Falcon 9 will hit the Moon near the equator on the far side. However, the rocket’s orbit may reportedly be altered due to sunlight.
What will happen if the rocket hits the Moon?
If the collision happens, NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, India's Chandrayaan-2, and other lunar orbiter space craft will be able to get data from the crater formed due to the impact.
In fact, a rocket stage that had been used up was crashed into the lunar surface by NASA in 2009 for similar observational purposes. However, the SpaceX rocket stage collision, if it happens, will be the first one that is an unintentional strike. The spacecraft stage weighs around 4 tonnes and its speed of approach towards the moon is over 9,000 kilometers per hour.
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 "Rocket launched by Elon Musk’s SpaceX in 2015 is on course to collide with the Moon")
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