1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

Moon crashing rocket is not Musk Mission

Discussion in 'Environmental Discussion' started by bwilson4web, Feb 13, 2022.

  1. bwilson4web

    bwilson4web BMW i3 and Model 3

    Joined:
    Nov 25, 2005
    27,373
    15,513
    0
    Location:
    Huntsville AL
    Vehicle:
    2018 Tesla Model 3
    Model:
    Prime Plus
    Source:Astronomers now say the rocket about to strike the Moon is not a Falcon 9 | Ars Technica

    About three weeks ago Ars Technica first reported that astronomers were tracking the upper stage of a Falcon 9 rocket, and were increasingly confident that it would strike the Moon on March 4.

    This story set off a firestorm of media activity. Much of this coverage criticized SpaceX for failing to properly dispose of the second stage of its Falcon 9 rocket after the launch of NOAA's Deep Space Climate Observatory mission, or DSCOVR, in 2015. The British tabloids, in particular, had a field day. Even the genteel European Space Agency tut-tutted, noting that it takes care to preserve enough fuel to put spent rocket stages into stable orbits around the Sun.
    . . .
    It was an engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Jon Giorgini, who realized this object was not in fact the upper stage of a Falcon 9 rocket. He wrote to Gray on Saturday morning explaining that the DSCOVR spacecraft's trajectory did not go particularly close to the Moon, and that it would therefore be a little strange if the second stage strayed close enough to strike it. This prompted Gray to dig back into his data, and identify other potential candidates.

    He soon found one—the Chinese Chang'e 5-T1 mission launched in October 2014 on a Long March 3C rocket. This lunar mission sent a small spacecraft to the Moon as a precursor test for an eventual lunar sample return mission. The launch time and lunar trajectory are almost an exact match for the orbit of the object that will hit the Moon in March.

    "In a sense, this remains 'circumstantial' evidence," Gray wrote. "But I would regard it as fairly convincing evidence. So I am persuaded that the object about to hit the moon on 2022 Mar 4 at 12:25 UTC is actually the Chang'e 5-T1 rocket stage."    ​

    There is a lot of envy and hate directed at Elon Musk who keeps pulling off engineering miracles.

    Bob Wilson
     

    Attached Files:

    #1 bwilson4web, Feb 13, 2022
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
    108,705
    49,399
    0
    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    he brings some hate on himself, the envy is unjustified human failing
     
    #2 bisco, Feb 13, 2022
  3. ETC(SS)

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

    Joined:
    Oct 28, 2010
    7,744
    6,544
    0
    Location:
    Redneck Riviera (Gulf South)
    Vehicle:
    Other Non-Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    And people wonder why they call it "fake news"....:confused:

    Which object is really "litter?"
    The upper stage of a Falcon 9 rocket that does NOT hit the moon but continues to tumble about in space or a Long March 3 rocket body that actually HITS the moon and is rendered more static, if not less asthetic?

    After all....even a rocket booster whose launcher budgets fuel and flight profile to park itself in a "stable orbit around the sun" does little more than the equivalent of what I used to do in the 1980s when we threw trash off the stern of a Navy Ship (or used a submarine TDU.)
    You're throwing it into a seemingly infinite body where we're "sure" that it will be of no concern.

    As for the CHICOMMS......well nobody has the stones to call them out on much these days lest the "usual suspects" accuse them of high crimes and misdemeanors.....:ROFLMAO:

    Noodle dance.....stumble.


    I do not know about actual MIRACLES. :unsure:
    Maybe just out-of-the box thinking?
    Stable Genius?

    Hate is nearly always a two way street, and Elon loves to play in the traffic......
     
    #3 ETC(SS), Feb 17, 2022
    Last edited: Feb 17, 2022
  4. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 26, 2009
    17,317
    10,166
    90
    Location:
    Western Washington
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    There are many many pieces of launch debris from lunar and interplanetary missions, running around in untracked solar orbits with the possibility of eventual future returns. One that came back for a temporary visit in 2002-3 is believed to be the 3rd stage of Apollo 12:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J002E3

    How a long-gone Apollo rocket returned to Earth | Astronomy.com


    It will revisit again, probably in the mid-2040s. On some future visit, it also could strike the moon or earth. But it ought not be any worse than other intentional moon strikes or earth re-entries.
     
    #4 fuzzy1, Feb 17, 2022
  5. ETC(SS)

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

    Joined:
    Oct 28, 2010
    7,744
    6,544
    0
    Location:
    Redneck Riviera (Gulf South)
    Vehicle:
    Other Non-Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    I'm thinking that at least on the moon, somebody in a rover might be able to retrieve and use some of the carbon fiber or metal bits.....
     
    #5 ETC(SS), Feb 17, 2022
  6. bwilson4web

    bwilson4web BMW i3 and Model 3

    Joined:
    Nov 25, 2005
    27,373
    15,513
    0
    Location:
    Huntsville AL
    Vehicle:
    2018 Tesla Model 3
    Model:
    Prime Plus
    <AHEM> perhaps a really challenging mission less science than trying to build a lawsuit?

    Bob Wilson
     
    #6 bwilson4web, Feb 17, 2022
(You must log in or sign up to post here.)