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+--- Thread: China asserts it is not their debris that will impact Moon ('I didn't do it' style) (/thread-11797.html)
China asserts it is not their debris that will impact Moon ('I didn't do it' style) - C C - Feb 22, 2022
RELATED THREAD: Out-of-control SpaceX rocket on collision course with the moon
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China casts doubt on origin of rocket debris about to slam into the Moon
https://www.theverge.com/2022/2/22/22945801/china-change-5-t1-rocket-debris-moon-collision-update
EXCERPT: This doomed space object has received quite a lot of attention over the last few weeks, ever since an astronomer and space tracker by the name of Bill Gray first predicted that it would slam into the Moon on March 4th after years of orbiting the Earth. At first, Gray thought the object was a leftover chunk of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that launched a satellite for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration back in 2015.
But after some follow-up analysis, Gray claimed that he was mistaken and that the debris was actually an old rocket stage leftover from China’s Chang’e 5-T1 mission from 2014, which tested out technology needed to bring samples back from the Moon. Gray’s conclusion that the object is a Chinese rocket has been backed up by analysis from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and by a team at the University of Arizona.
But China is now officially weighing in on the matter and is potentially disputing American astronomers’ claims. “According to China’s monitoring, the upper stage of the Chang’e-5 mission rocket has fallen through the Earth’s atmosphere in a safe manner and burnt up completely,” Wang Wenbin, a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said during a press conference on Monday. The statement was first reported by Space News.
[...] But Gray and others are claiming that the rocket is from the Chang’e 5-T1 mission, which is a separate flight altogether. Chang’e 5-T1 was a precursor mission to Chang’e-5, which did not launch until 2020. The booster from that mission did actually fall back to Earth and burn up in the atmosphere, according to a new blog post by Gray... (MORE - details)
RE: China asserts it is not their debris that will impact Moon ('I didn't do it' style) - C C - Feb 23, 2022
Moon-bound rocket stage still most likely from 2014 Chang’e mission, despite China’s denial
https://spacenews.com/moon-bound-rocket-stage-still-most-likely-from-2014-change-mission-despite-chinas-denial/
EXCERPT: . . . The issue is expected to become more important in coming years as both the United States and a number of partners and China and Russia are planning respective Artemis and International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) programs to establish a long term presence on the moon.
“The upcoming lunar impact illustrates well the need for a comprehensive regulatory regime in space, not only for the economically crucial orbits around Earth but also applying to the Moon,” Holger Krag, Head of ESA’s Space Safety Programme, said in a recent ESA release... (MORE - missing details)
https://youtu.be/M_5u3ESfFv0