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March 4,2022

Andrew Campbell 

An abandoned rocket stage weighing 2.7 metric tons crashed into the moon on March 4, but its origin was still unknown. Although Chinese officials deny, several scientists who have been watching the piece of space debris think it is from China.

When the abandoned rocket stage stroke the Hertzsprung crater on the moon's far side at 7:25 a.m. EST (1225 GMT) on March 4, it was traveling at a blazing 9,288 km/h (5,771 mph). Initially, astronomers suspected it belonged to Elon Musk's SpaceX company, but later concluded it was Chinese, which China disputes. The impact on the Moon should have had only modest consequences. The rocket stage would have created a tiny crater and a dust plume.

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter was not able to view the crash, but NASA has promised to look for the crater that results, which might take weeks or months. The rocket is space debris, or gear left over from missions or satellites that didn't have enough fuel or energy to return to Earth. Some parts are barely over the Earth's surface, while others, such as this launcher, are hundreds of kilometers away in high orbit, far from the Earth's atmosphere. According to the European Space Agency, there are currently 36,500 bits of space trash larger than 10cm in orbit.