QuoteNASA said a rocket of unknown national origin that crashed into the moon earlier this year produced a double crater on the surface, an unexpected feat.
The agency's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which collects data on the moon, spotted two craters after the "mystery rocket body" collided with the moon on March 4, NASA said recently.
It created an eastern crater about 19.5 yards in diameter and a western crater about 17.5 yards in diameter.
The agency said the double crater might indicate that the rocket had a large mass on each end of it. A rocket that has used up its fuel usually will just have its mass on the end with the motor, with the other side being an empty fuel tank.
The rocket's origin is uncertain, but the double crater that it produced might reveal its identity, according to the release.
A rocket body hitting the moon has not created a double crater before, the release states.
The Houston Chronicle reported Thursday that no space-exploring country has claimed the rocket as their own so far.
Let me be the first to say it
(https://images.sr.roku.com/idType/roku/context/global/id/fdfa5af15d97548aa3063842c9a7f026/images/gracenote/assets/p7270_v_v11_ay.jpg/magic/396x0/filters:quality(70))
Does Burkina Faso have a space program yet?
(https://images8.alphacoders.com/507/thumb-1920-507069.jpg)
Unless I'm over estimating real world capabilities surely all launch sites are under satellite surveillance- can the powers that be not synchronise a launch to a crash a couple of days later - or however long it takes to get there
or an X-37 practicing precision strikes. ::)
the one thats up now is set to break the longest mission record of 780 days in space.
The Andorran Space Admin. is VERY underestimated. Just saying. ::)
The speculation I've heard is that it's either the Bear or the Red Dragon that was doing something up there. I've also heard rumors of activity taking place on the dark side of the moon beyond prying eyes.
Hunter/killer satellites?
Quote from: W8taminute on July 01, 2022, 12:58:25 PM
I've also heard rumors of activity taking place on the dark side of the moon beyond prying eyes.
The nerd in me can't resist : despite the popularity of the phrase "dark side of the Moon," there is no such thing. There is, however, a far side. :nerd:
https://spacecentre.co.uk/blog-post/dark-side-of-the-moon-blog/
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7478976/sorry-there-is-no-dark-side-of-the-moon/
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/never-see-far-side-moon
Quote from: Pete Dero on July 01, 2022, 02:52:15 PM
Quote from: W8taminute on July 01, 2022, 12:58:25 PM
I've also heard rumors of activity taking place on the dark side of the moon beyond prying eyes.
The nerd in me can't resist : despite the popularity of the phrase "dark side of the Moon," there is no such thing. There is, however, a far side. :nerd:
https://spacecentre.co.uk/blog-post/dark-side-of-the-moon-blog/
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7478976/sorry-there-is-no-dark-side-of-the-moon/
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/never-see-far-side-moon
Well of course there is. Pink Floyd sang so... \m/ One of my most favorite albums of all time.
...or it could be this guy (OK, OK, I know he's not on the far side. Still liked the movie tho O0):
This thread is beginning to freak me out.
More alcohol equals less Freak. My Grand-Dad used to tell me that while he was making moonshine in the radiator of his 1927 Ford. When he died, we buried him in that car in his backyard. Good times. <:-)
^That actually sounds...believable
https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/impact-crater-farside-moon/
A recent lunar science mystery has provided an interesting result. After a months-long search, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter mission team recently found a pair of new craters on the lunar farside, formed when an object hit the Moon on March 4, 2022. Observers had spotted the object on its moonbound trajectory, though the impact itself was of course out of Earth's line of sight.
Exactly what the impactor was made for an intriguing tale. Initial calculations suggested it was the upper stage booster of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, which launched the Deep Space Climate Observatory mission. But observers later refined the trajectory and identified the object as a Long March 3C upper stage from China's Chang'e 5 T1 mission. Chang'e 5 T1 flew past the Moon in late 2014 to demonstrate capsule reentry ahead of the full Chang'e 5 lunar-sample return. To date, however, China has not confirmed that the object was related to the Chang'e 5 T1 mission.
The impactor was projected to hit the lunar surface around 7:26 a.m. EST / 12:26 UT on March 4th, near the large crater Hertzsprung on the lunar farside. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) team found the impact site about 8 kilometers (5 miles) from the expected impact site. This slight shift wasn't unexpected, as solar-wind pressure can gently push on the empty rocket booster — basically a hollow cylinder — and alter its trajectory prior to impact.
Mystery gone.
I'm not so sure the mystery is gone. The article mentions that the impact location was a bit off from where they calculated it should have been but the article does not provide a clear explanation on how the impact caused a double crater.
In any case I do believe that a manmade object caused the craters, I just haven't found any explanation on exactly how the two craters were formed. I willing to also bet that who ever was responsible for this doesn't even know exactly how two craters were formed.
One possibility (most likely) is that the craters were formed by a piece of debris that had two large masses at each end.
Typically, the empty fuel shell of a rocket means that the mass is only concentrated in the rocket motor but the double crater probably indicates that the fuel on the rocket had not been completely spent.
QuoteOne possibility (most likely) is that the craters were formed by a piece of debris that had two large masses at each end.
Typically, the empty fuel shell of a rocket means that the mass is only concentrated in the rocket motor but the double crater probably indicates that the fuel on the rocket had not been completely spent.
You mean something like this
(https://i2-prod.dailystar.co.uk/incoming/article24578974.ece/ALTERNATES/s615b/0_Austin.jpg)
;D