Space News reports, “Material from the far side of the moon has begun its journey for Earth after Chinese spacecraft collected samples and launched them into lunar orbit. The Chang’e-6 mission ascent vehicle lifted off from atop the mission lander in Apollo crater at 7:38 p.m. Eastern June 3 (2338 UTC), the China National Space Administration (CNSA) announced. The ascender is now tracking the Chang’e-6 orbiter in a retrograde low lunar orbit.”
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Tag: impact
NASA to Crash DART into Asteroid Monday
SPACE reported that on Monday “at 7:14 p.m. EDT (2314 GMT), NASA will intentionally crash a spacecraft into an asteroid – and you might be able to see it live.” The test mission “is targeting the moonlet Dimorphos, a small celestial body orbiting the asteroid Didymos about 7 million miles (11 million kilometers) away from Earth.” The livestream “from the telescopes will begin on Monday at 6:30 p.m. EDT (2230 GMT) on the Virtual Telescope Project’s website.”
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NASA’s DART One Month Away from Impact
SPACE reported that NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) “will crash into the asteroid Dimorphos at approximately 15,000 mph (24,000 kph) in an attempt to alter the celestial body’s trajectory around a larger asteroid called Didymos” on September 26 at 7:14 p.m. EDT (2314 GMT). The DART mission is “a test to see if ‘kinetic impact technology’ would work to deflect any potential Earth-bound asteroids.” Members of the public “will be able to view live coverage of the impact on NASA TV, NASA’s website, and NASA social media pages beginning at 6 p.m. EDT (2200 GMT) on Sept. 26.”
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Rocket Stage Headed for Moon Impact Likely from 2014 Chang’e Mission
Space News reports that a rocket stage “expected to impact the moon is still most likely to belong to China’s 2014 moon mission, despite a denial from the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.” Independent spectral analysis “by students at the University of Arizona also adds to the evidence that the object’s identity most likely belongs to China’s Chang’e-5 T1 mission.” University of Arizona associate professor Vishnu Reddy said, “We took a spectrum and compared it with Chinese and SpaceX rockets of similar types, and it matches the Chinese rocket. This is the best match, and we have the best possible evidence at this point.”
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