The object — a rocket booster whose origins are hotly disputed — will create a new crater on the moon this afternoon.

In late January, data analyst and sky-watcher Bill Gray predicted that space debris will hit the moon today, March 4. An alleged SpaceX rocket booster is said to be headed for and rammed into our natural satellite. In the meantime, things have changed again and it is suspected that it is a Chinese rocket booster. But there’s no question that the thing will crash on the moon today.

Crater

Right now, the mysterious rocket booster is speeding toward the moon, which is expected to land there around noon. The impact will create a new crater on the moon.

The crash will take place on the far side of the moon, which means we won’t be able to see the impact. It is known where the booster will crash, namely near the already existing Hertzsprung crater.

Chang’e 5-T1 rocket booster

As mentioned, it was initially thought that the piece of debris that has come to lie on a collision course with the moon belonged to SpaceX. It would be a discarded rocket stage from the American space company that did not burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere as intended due to a problem, but continued to float through space. Still, something wasn’t right, Gray thought, after pondering the data again. And while he returned to the drawing board to re-map the trajectory of the mysterious rocket booster, he stumbled upon a completely different object: the Chang’e 5-T1 rocket booster.

Pretty sure

Gray is pretty sure that the piece of space debris currently heading for our natural satellite is this Chinese rocket booster. McDowell and students from the University of Arizona also join his side. However, the Chinese strongly deny it. “In a sense, everything remains ‘indirect’ evidence,” Gray writes. “But I would consider it quite convincing. I think the object about to hit the moon is actually this Chang’e 5-T1 rocket booster.”

The truth may never come out. The booster will not survive the impact. And so it will probably never be clear who it belonged to.

Scoop

Incidentally, the impact of the mysterious booster on the moon is a first. Because never before has the moon been inadvertently bombarded with dumped space debris. Incidentally, Dowell reassured us before that you don’t have to worry about the impact. From a security point of view, not much can happen. The moon is even hit fairly often by larger objects.

Space waste

The event does show how big the space waste problem currently is. And that we have to solve it. “In the past, space clutter wasn’t such a big deal,” Gray writes. “But many more spacecraft are now nesting in higher orbits. Some craft will even take astronauts to the moon. Existing clutter will therefore no longer be just an annoyance for a small group of astronomers.” Gray therefore hopes that anyone launching objects into higher orbits will make important information about this object publicly available. “Second, there should be a centralized observatory that tracks where space debris is moving,” suggests the sky-watcher. “Thirdly, more thought needs to be given to how the space can become a waste-free place again.”

All in all, there is not much that can be changed about the rocket booster that is currently heading for the moon. Since the crash takes place on the far side of the moon, we will not be able to see the impact as mentioned. The US space probe will Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter try to photograph the new crater that will form.