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Space junk on a 5,800-MPH collision-course with moon on Friday
- tonyedgecombe 5y agoIs there nowhere we won't descrate?
- kbelder 5y agoThe moon is an ideal place to desecrate.
- trhway 5y agothere has been concerns about ships landing on Moon raising dust hanging around for long and thus causing issues for the following landing/launches. Looks like we're beginning such a pollution of the near-Moon space.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- ALittleLight 5y agoWouldn't asteroid (more common due to no atmosphere) impacts cause similar pollution?
- ratsmack 5y agoYes, and the amount of dust would probably be proportional to the energy they carry to the impact point, and their trajectory relative to the surface.
- LeoPanthera 5y agoBut the moon doesn't have an atmosphere. Surely there's nothing for the dust to "hang around" in. It would either achieve escape velocity or continue in an arc until it hits the ground again.
- SideburnsOfDoom 5y ago> It would either achieve escape velocity or continue in an arc until it hits the ground again. Correct. IDK about impacts, but for rocket exhausts, the surprising result is that some of the kicked-up dust can achieve escape velocity, and "where it hits the ground" is "anywhere on the moon" - denser nearby, obviously, but there's no 100% safe distance anywhere on the lunar surface. https://www.theverge.com/2019/7/17/18663203/apollo-11-anniversary-moon-dust-landing-high-speed https://www.theverge.com/2019/7/17/18663203/apollo-11-annive...
- knicholes 5y agoWouldn't the dust technically become the atmosphere? There is still gravity on the moon.
- SideburnsOfDoom 5y ago> douldn't the dust technically become the atmosphere? Only for short time, while it's vaporised into a gas by the impact. For that time it will join the rest of the "infinitesimal amount of gas" that forms a very tenuous atmosphere around the moon. https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LADEE/news/lunar-atmosphere.html https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LADEE/news/lunar-atmosphe...
- pdonis 5y ago> Wouldn't the dust technically become the atmosphere? No, because it's not a gas (dust has basically zero pressure) and it won't stay aloft at a constant or nearly constant altitude. It will either fall back to the surface or escape.
- knicholes 5y agoI have a hard time believing that the dust would escape given the gravity of the moon.
- ratsmack 5y agoDust is generally held in suspension by the air here on Earth, because of the air currents and because of air viscosity. With no atmosphere on the moon, I suspect the dust would not stay suspended above the surface very long.
- Casteil 5y agoMoon gets struck by meteorites all the time... dust kicked up by landings or man-made impacts isn't really a problem that warrants concern.
- SideburnsOfDoom 5y ago> dust kicked up by landings or man-made impacts isn't really a problem that warrants concern In general no. With regards to other human people and hardware that might be on or near the moon when it's kicked up, it definitely is a concern. NASA once calculated, "when a rocket lands on the moon, or launches, how far can the kicked-up dust travel?". And got the answer "everywhere on the moon is in range. Some dust will also escape the moon." https://www.theverge.com/2019/7/17/18663203/apollo-11-anniversary-moon-dust-landing-high-speed https://www.theverge.com/2019/7/17/18663203/apollo-11-annive... > that could be bad news for any future habitats that NASA or other space agencies might want to build on the Moon > “It could ruin a spacecraft in orbit around the Moon if it just happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time,” > will be sand-sized stuff blown completely off the Moon into orbit around the Sun.
- smegsicle 5y agomaybe the issue is takeoffs more than landings
- samesamebutsame 5y agoGenerally the plan is to put down a pad once you've got the first ship there. There's some cool NASA concepts around for what is basically a household microwave with wheels that melts the regolith into a ceramic type material. https://space.stackexchange.com/questions/35319/can-you-really-melt-lunar-regolith-with-microwaves https://space.stackexchange.com/questions/35319/can-you-real...
- aaron_m04 5y agoHow well does regolith absorb microwaves?
- aaron695 5y ago
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- accrual 5y agoI hope some of the currently active missions on the Moon can record some data from the event. The lunar seismometers placed during Apollo are no longer active. [0] [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_seismology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_seismology
- unstatusthequo 5y agoToo bad it’s not headed to Purim’s location. Just sayin’
- Rebelgecko 5y agoIt'll be a few days early for Purim
- ars 5y agoPurim is March 17 this year, the President of Ukraine is Jewish, and celebrates it.
- SideburnsOfDoom 5y ago> Purim is March 17 this year That's also St Patrick's day. It's going to be quite the drinking day for the intersecting demographic.
- 1over137 5y agoPublic service: 9334 km/h.
- livinglist 5y agothank you sir for this.
- News-Dog 5y agoMany LOL's - Thanks! - I needed That!
- ben-schaaf 5y ago2593m/s or 2.6km/s. Not sure if they're more common in the industry, but they certainly are in Kerbal Space Program.
- Eddy_Viscosity2 5y ago0.0008649% the speed of light
- dmitrygr 5y ago1.56*10^7 furlongs per fortnight
- nothatscool 5y agoWould this be its speed relative to the moon?
- stillblue 5y agoThat is a very interesting question! I wanna know too.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- ryandrake 5y agoAlso, > 3 tons of space junk, a punch that will carve out a crater big enough to fit several semitractor-trailers These are likely US tons, so 2722kg. I'm not sure about the SI conversion of the semitractor-trailer units. > scientists expect the object to carve out a hole 33 feet to 66 feet across Oh, so 10-20 meters :-)
- foxhop 5y ago
- asix66 5y agoDark side of the moon! I’m queuing up Pink Floyd Friday.