A SpaceX rocket’s upper stage is scheduled to unintentionally crash into the Moon on Wednesday, creating a lunar crater in a collision that experts say poses no danger to Earth.
The Falcon 9 upper stage is expected to strike the lunar surface at around 0635 GMT (2:35 am Eastern). Scientists and amateur astronomers are preparing to observe the sunlit plume of rubble and debris expected to be thrown up by the impact, reports AFP.
Benjamin Fernando of the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, lead author of a recent paper on the event, said the ejecta plume might be visible through telescopes.
“It is unclear how bright it will be, which is one of the reasons why we are looking to study this event,” Fernando said.
The spacecraft, estimated to weigh around 4,000 kilograms (8,800 pounds) after its propellant is exhausted, is expected to strike the Moon’s northern hemisphere near Einstein Crater. It is travelling at around 8,690 kilometres per hour (5,400 miles per hour).
NASA spokesperson Jimi Russell confirmed that the impact poses no threat to Earth. He added that the agency would track the booster for training purposes before observing the impact site for scientific research.
The Falcon 9 rocket was launched in January last year carrying two lunar landers. While the booster returned to Earth, the upper stage remained in space to propel the landers.
Julianna Scheiman, Director of NASA Science and Dragon Programmes at SpaceX, said at a news conference on Monday that although SpaceX had carried out safety manoeuvres in line with regulations, a combination of solar activity and gravitational forces had pushed the upper stage onto its current trajectory towards the Moon.
“I also am very excited to see the observation,” Scheiman said, reflecting the enthusiasm of the wider scientific community.
Researchers believe the impact will provide a rare opportunity to test systems for localising impacts for future seismic experiments, as well as to study dust dynamics and the hazards posed by artificial space debris.
Understanding space debris in lunar orbit is considered crucial as NASA seeks to establish a sustained human presence on the Moon. Although the Moon is frequently struck by meteoroids, artificial impacts are far less common. NASA previously carried out deliberate crashes during the Apollo programme in the 1970s to collect seismic data.
