Rocket to smash into moon today at 5,800mph and create giant crater, scientists say
manchestereveningnews.co.ukAstronomers have announced that a three-tonne rocket part is going to crash into the moon this afternoon (March 4). The space debris is expected to collide into the far side of the moon at approximately 5,800mph which will likely create a crater between 33ft and 66ft wide - enough to fit two double-decker buses.
The impact will not be visible from earth and could in fact take months to confirm with satellite images. Read more: Texting M62 lorry driver killed nurse then desperately tried to evade justice Space debris is a large concern for the space community because of the possibility that it could collide with a satellite and wipe out valuable services for people such as mobile phones and online banking.
But experts are not too worried about the rocket part and astronomer Billy Gray, who first identified the collision course, has said the moons is used to much more severe batterings.
Writing on his blog Project Pluto, Gray said: “Keep in mind that this is a roughly four-ton object that will hit at 2.58 km/s. “The moon is fairly routinely hit with larger objects moving in the ballpark of 10-20 km/s hence the craters.
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