On March 4, a rocket part collided into the far side of the Moon, leaving an impact on the Hertzsprung crater of the Moon. Astronomers and scientists have not found the origins of the rogue rocket part, however.
Some early findings indicate that the rocket component could have originated from the upper stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that carried the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s DSCOVR satellite in February 2015. When scientists later found out that the upper stage ended up near the sun and not the moon, they predicted that the lunar collision could be from China’s Chang’e 5-T1 mission that was launched in 2014 and left rocket components around the orbit of Earth close enough to reach the Moon.
Though only the lunar surface of the Moon was damaged, the collision still raises concern for the outer space environment. Regardless of the origins of rocket part, the skyrocketing number of space debris from the increased number of lunar missions and the expanding space industry is posing a critical threat to outer space.
According to the National Review, there are currently hundreds of millions of space debris, with each tiny piece capable of destroying a spacecraft. Especially with private spaceflight companies contributing to the satellite Internet constellation, the risk of celestial collisions increase in low Earth orbit, causing the “Kessler Syndrome,” which refers to the cycle of collisions creating more debris, ultimately causing more collisions.
The problem of space debris has been standing for years. For example, in 2007, China’s destructive test against its own satellite yielded more than 3,000 pieces of debris.
Furthermore, over the past twenty years, space commercialization has rapidly become popular, from entrepreneurs such as Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos. NASA concerns Space X’s mega constellation of over 7,000 satellites employed for broadband communications because these orbital debris might pollute the near-Earth space environment, and NASA advises space companies to de-orbit the satellites when their service lives end.
Though there certainly are many benefits that come with space commercialization, the costs of space commercialization are growing on a larger scale. To prevent such collisions from occurring in the future, it is imperative that more feasible solutions are implemented to prevent such mega constellations from growing and rocket components of space missions are not left astray in space.
Works Cited
Drake, Nadia. “A Rogue Rocket Part Collided with the Moon.” Science, National Geographic, 26 Aug. 2022, https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/a-rogue-rocket-part-is-about-to-collide-with-the-moon. Accessed 24 Nov. 2022.
Rose, Frank. “America in space: Future visions, current issues.” Brookings, The Brookings Institution, 14 Mar. 2019, www.brookings.edu/testimonies/america-in-space-future-visions-current-issues/. Accessed 3 Aug. 2022.
Salter, Alexander William. “Outer Space Is Becoming the Final Junkyard.” National Review, National Review, 29 June 2021, www.nationalreview.com/2021/06/outer-space-is-becoming-the-final-junkyard/. Accessed 3 Aug. 2022.
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