August 5th Lunar impact

Discussion in 'Fred's House of Pancakes' started by bwilson4web, Aug 3, 2026 at 11:39 AM.

  1. bwilson4web

    bwilson4web BMW i3 and Model 3

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    Impact Details
    • Object: Spent Falcon 9 upper stage from a January 2025 launch
    • Mass: ~4,000–4,500 kg (4–4.5 tons)
    • Speed: ~8,700 km/h (5,400 mph)
    • Expected Crater Size: 20 to 30 meters (65 to 100 feet) wide
    I’m wondering if we’ll see a meteor shower in the days/weeks afterwards?

    What about the existing missions on the moon?

    Bob Wilson

     
  2. ETC(SS)

    ETC(SS) The OTHER One Percenter.....

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    meh.
    The moon doesn't have much of an atmosphere but it DOES have gravity - so I'm thinking that it's not going to be like the Remulakian rescue vessel accidentally chipping off a massive piece of rock while extracting the Conehead family from Earth.
    Falcon's upper stage will come sauntering in at something like 2.5km/s - and that's not too shabby but it's at least an order of magnitude slower than the hunks and chunks that caused most of the other craters.
    Since lunar escape velocity is 2.38 km/s, and Elon's lunar litter might be going a little bit faster - could any ejecta actually escape?

    Nah.
    It will make yet another crater, but the old "what goes up" rule will apply here.

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