The National Astronomical Research Institute page states that Originally speculated that a piece of SpaceX’s “Falcon 9 rocket” will crash into the far side of the moon on March 4, 2022, the latest data has revealed that the fragment actually was. of the “2014-065B rocket” from China’s Chang’e 5-T1 mission, the details of the crash remain unchanged.
Latest information from astronomy software maker and web owner Bill Gray. projectpluto.com The man who calculated the orbit of the object that will crash into the far side of the moon on March 4, 2022, has reported that he has discovered a prior error that has misidentified the space junk. go Originally understood to be the 2015-007B, or SpaceX’s second-class Falcon 9 rocket that carried the DSCOVR mission to point L1 between Earth and the Sun. Until the latest information reveals that the object is no longer a SpaceX rocket, but rather a part of a Chinese rocket on the Chang’e mission.
Why does this error occur? Indeed, such errors are not uncommon at all. First of all, we must understand that Space junk tracking is still a field that still needs to be developed continuously. Especially space junk that is far away from Earth. There is a low rate of harm to satellites. And not observable by conventional radar in the survey, so it is not surprising that many rocket parts. Pieces beyond near-Earth orbit are completely neglected and lost track. Neither SpaceX nor JPL are responsible for directly tracking every object sent into space.
The discovery of this piece of space junk Indeed, it is a byproduct of the Catalina Sky Survey that is intended to track near-Earth asteroids. When the object was first discovered on March 14, 2014, the discovery was reported to astronomers around the world to confirm the discovery. Later, astronomers from Brazil confirmed that the object actually orbited the Earth. Indicates that it is probably a man-made object. This is because the object’s discovery site was just two months beyond lunar orbit after the DSCOVR mission sent the probe beyond lunar orbit. Combined with the brightness and orbit that is consistent with DSCOVR’s mission, many followers It’s highly probable that it’s a Falcon 9 second stage rocket from the DSCOVR mission, according to the public.
However, it is almost impossible to determine the identity of the space junk that was not traced in the first place, and in many cases requires a piece of work as in an investigation. Plus, at present, there is no central authority that every country has to report the final speed of the rocket that everyone can easily access. in which case After discovering that the object would collide with the moon’s far side, Jon Giorgini contacted Bill Gray that details suggesting the object’s approach to the moon two days after its launch were inconsistent. With the details of the DSCOVR mission, though, it is possible that the ejected rocket component will change orbit due to the remaining fuel release. But the orbital deviation that would allow this would have to be a fairly rare case.
If this object is not from the DSCOVR mission, then what other object could it come from? We currently have missions that take rockets or satellites as far as the moon’s orbit. And with its brightness, it was almost impossible to escape from observation all along. This indicates that the object is likely to have been sent shortly before March 2015. Another possible mission before that was China’s Chang’e mission. (Which, to this day, has never been observed a rocket fragment.) Retrospective analysis of the orbit reveals that the object’s orbit is highly consistent with the orbit of the Chang’e mission. Combined with spectral analyzes by the University of Arizona confirmed the object’s composition corresponds to that of a Chinese rocket component. These evidence thus suggest the object is likely a rocket fragment from the Chinese Chang’e mission.
However, this new identification of the rocket did not affect previous orbital calculations. The rocket parts will continue to crash into the far side of the moon on March 4. no change And this collision is normal. does not cause any harm all to the people of the world and the collision position on the far side of the moon This means that this phenomenon will not be noticeable on Earth.
This is another event. that reminds us of the importance of tracking space debris. Although very few objects have been sent to orbits far from Earth at present, And there is a potential danger to existing satellites at a very low rate. But in the near future, as more and more objects are sent, when exploring far space to the moon is a more regular occurrence. Every launch means that rocket parts will be left in space, increasing the potential danger.
Not only will this remind us of the necessity of developing technology to track space junk far beyond Earth. It also reminds us of the need for international agreements and measures for the handling, reporting and monitoring of man-made parts sent into deep space in the near future.