Rogue area junk might ‘crush future human bases on the Moon’ and doom mankind
A massive chunk of rogue space junk has smashed into the Moon at an estimated speed of 5,400mph, sparking grave warnings that future human colonies could be accidentally wiped out by drifting rocket debris. The empty upper stage of a giant SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket slammed into the lunar surface at around 6.35am GMT on Wednesday.
Weighing roughly 4,000kg (630st) and measuring the size of a five-storey building, the runaway rocket piece unleashed a dramatic flash upon impact.
Astronomers tracking the stray section revealed it had been drifting in a wild, looping orbit ever since launching two lunar landers from Florida in January last year.
The empty upper stage of a giant SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket slammed into the lunar surface(Image: Zeynep Demir Aslim/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock)
Over an 18-month period, gravitational pulls from the Earth, Moon and Sun slowly nudged the rocket onto its final, fatal crash course.
SpaceX insisted the smash-up was unintentional, but while no humans were in harm’s way this time, experts warn the lunar environment is rapidly becoming a cosmic trash heap.
Speaking to the Daily Star, Dr Megan Argo, an astrophysicist at the University of Lancashire, warned that future astronauts living in permanent Moon bases might not be so lucky.
SpaceX insisted the smash-up was unintentional, but experts warn the lunar environment is rapidly becoming a trash heap(Image: Joe Marino/UPI/Shutterstock)
She said: “Right now, this collision will have no risk to life as there are no humans on the Moon, nor are there landers or other equipment in the projected impact location.
“But as more and more missions head to the Moon, an increasing number of spent rocket parts will end up on potential collision courses with it.
“If we are planning to build a base and have it crewed long-term, the last thing you want is for it to be accidentally damaged by a piece of space junk.”
Experts fear even precious history, like Neil Armstrong’s legendary first footprint, could be pulverised(Image: AFP/Getty Images)
With superpowers and private firms racing to build lunar habitats, satellite networks and mining operations, experts fear even precious history, like Neil Armstrong’s legendary first footprint or the Apollo 11 landing site, could be pulverised by flying debris.
Dr Argo said: “It’s possible, although the chance is very small. Currently, not much debris hits the Moon. But there is more future activity planned on and around the Moon that would make debris impacting an early historical landing site more likely.”
If a similar rocket stage hit a manned habitat at high speed, the results could be serious. However, the astrophysicist stressed that space agencies are waking up to the danger.
Dr Argo added: “Commercial companies are developing methods of catching and removing defunct satellites and other hazardous pieces of debris before they can cause a collision or crash.
“The increasing awareness of this problem is pushing all space actors to improve how they dispose of their rockets.”
She noted that operators must reserve enough fuel to guide spent rockets into controlled re-entries. However, future Moon dwellers will still need to keep one eye on the sky.
Dr Argo said: “An emerging and important aspect of operations for the space sector is what is known as ‘space situational awareness’.
“Future bases will have to deal with this as one of the risks involved in operating in space, even if the chance is small.”
