Enlarge image
In addition to the craters on the moon's surface, another one will be added this Friday
Photo: NASA
For the first time a piece of space junk will hit the moon this Friday and humanity is kind of watching.
The collision is predicted for 1:25 p.m.
However, it is difficult to follow what is happening from Earth: the impact will take place on the far side of the moon.
So there will be no immediate confirmation.
However, it is conceivable that space probes can look out for a fresh crater afterwards.
There has long been speculation about the origin of the part of the rocket that will now hit the moon: At first it was said that it was probably part of a rocket from the space company SpaceX, the second stage of the "Falcon 9".
Probably a rocket part of the »Chang'e 5-T1« moon probe
But then the astronomer who discovered the object revised his statement a few weeks ago.
It is probably part of a Chinese rocket – more precisely, the booster stage of the »Chang'e 5-T1« lunar probe.
This probe was launched in October 2014, orbited the moon and then returned to Earth.
Nothing was known about the whereabouts of the launch vehicle.
more on the subject
Dangerous space junk: Houston, we have 900,000 problemsBy Hilmar Schmundt
The speed with which the object should hit the moon's surface is given as more than 2.5 kilometers per second.
The rocket part weighs about four tons.
The rocket body is expected to pierce the surface at a shallow angle, scattering debris and creating a new 20-30 meter diameter crater in the area of the large Hertzsprung crater.
However, the impact is not considered special.
However, the event could be the first of many others: With the increasing amount of space debris, the risk of collisions will also increase - with the moon as well as with space stations inhabited by people.
And should people ever live on a lunar station, they too will have to deal with the danger of space debris flying around.
vki
