The SpaceX rocket is out of control. Elon Musk’s Falcon 9 could hit the moon

– an American space company founded by – started its first interplanetary mission almost seven years ago. The unmanned spacecraft was to observe the Earth and study the weather in space.

When rocket 9 completed the maneuver to change the spacecraft’s circular orbit by using the motors twice, the first part was disconnected, which was then brought to Earth for the first time in history. However, the object fell into the ocean, about 10 meters from the floating platform due to unfavorable weather. The second part of the rocket remained in orbit for research.

SpaceX – Falcon 9 rocket in space

After completing its mission, the Falcon 9 segment ran out of enough fuel (due to high combustion) to return to the Earth’s atmosphere. There was also not enough energy to escape the gravity of the Earth system. As a result, in February 2015, the object lost control and it moves in a somewhat chaotic orbit, i.e. it is the so-called space debris.

According to Bill Gray (writes near-Earth tracking software) and other sky watchers, the rocket is now on a course to intersect with the Moon.

Falcon 9 on a collision course with the Moon

Earlier this month, Gray called on astronomers to make additional observations of the rocket. Thanks to the new data obtained from them, the expert predicts that Falcon 9 is likely to hit the “dark side” of the moon, near the equator on March 4.

The collision will be an opportunity for scientists who are most concerned with understanding the presence of ice at the lunar poles, and the ability to observe subsurface material ejected by a Falcon 9 rocket impact could provide extremely valuable data in the context of this research.

It is likely that this will be the first time space equipment has accidentally hit the moon. Typically during interplanetary missions, the rocket’s upper stage is sent into a heliocentric orbit, keeping it away from the Earth and the Moon.

The weight of the second stage of the Falcon 9 rocket is approximately 4 tons. Experts predict that its hitting the moon should take place at a speed of about 2.58 km / s, which is not unlikely to be dangerous.

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