The fall of the Chinese rocket to the moon: along with her on the satellite crashed something else
On March 4, 2022, part of the Changozhen-3C rocket crashed into the surface of the moon. Prior to that, some believed that the rocket belonged to SpaceX, and it was brought to a high orbit of 2015. It was later revealed that it was still part of a Chinese rocket launched in orbit in 2014 as part of a monthly mission. In focus. Technology has appeared its Telegram channel. Subscribe not to miss the latest and most intrusive news from the world of science! But this is not over.
During the collision with the surface of the moon, the second stage of the rocket left as many as two craters. Then the scientists wondered what exactly crashed that day on the moon? A group of researchers at the University of Arizona tracked the trajectory of the object's flight for 7 years before the unhappy day. In his article published in The Planetary Science Journal, researchers have provided an analysis of the Chinese rocket flight trajectory and how it reflected light.
Researchers have confirmed that it was indeed a rocket launcher of Chinese mission "Changier-5T1", but at the time of falling on its board there was also a mysterious amount. "This is the first time we saw a double crater.
We know that in the case of" Changozhen-3c "stroke was directed almost straight down, and to get two craters of about the same size, you will need two approximately equal masses that are arranged from both The end of the rocket, " - says the leading author of the study at Arizona University Tanner Campbell. The researchers' team watched the sky in search of asteroids, but found an object flying through the segment between the Earth and the Moon.
Initially, the nature of the revealed object was unknown, so it was assigned a designation of W0913A. When the researchers figured out that they deal with a launch-carrier, a powerful telescope was used to monitor how it reflects light. It helped track the movement of the object in orbit. And he behaved quite strange. "We expected that the flying rocket would be slightly swayed, especially considering that the rocket housing is a large empty shell with a heavy engine on one side.
But the object was constantly overrung and was very unstable," says Campbell. The scientists saw that there was something else in the front of the rocket launcher, which was a counterweight to two giant engines. It can also explain two craters that formed after the rocket falls on the surface of the moon. "We do not have the idea that it could have been, perhaps, some additional structure, or additional tools, or something else. Probably we will never know that," the scientist summed up.