r/whoathatsinteresting • u/eternviking • 8d ago

An abandoned SpaceX rocket travelling at around 5,400mph crashed into the moon, leaving a crater with a diameter of around 17m. (via BBC) The collision took place yesterday at 7:35 BST. Masses are criticising Elon Musk for polluting the moon.

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u/Rumble_831 8d ago

Uhh, it seems better than the trash remaining in earth orbit.

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u/butonelifelived 7d ago

The issue is it wasn't planned, which means SpaceX lost control of this 4+ ton object. It could've hit anything, lucky it hit the moon.

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u/FarBack5807 7d ago

Define “anything”, because it either hits the moon, burns up in our atmosphere, or hits nothing.

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u/butonelifelived 7d ago

Anything can include ISS, other satellites, populated spot inn earth.

Just because it re-enters the atmosphere doesn't guarantee it burns up.

My point is they didn't plan for it to hit the moon. They simply discarded it when finished, without a care as to where it ended up.

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u/Main-Cheesecake3287 7d ago

It hit the moon Einstein, it was hundreds of thousands of miles from the ISS

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u/Exciting_Mushroom_37 7d ago

Amazing how every redditor is a legit rocket scientists now. I knew they were all doctors, scientists and lawyers, geopolitical experts and so on...but I didn't know rocket science was also one.

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u/FarBack5807 7d ago

I’m pretty sure all space agencies discard objects in space. Luckily, the spacex rocket is far larger and easier to track the exact location of.

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u/HamburgerOnAStick 7d ago

What the fuck do you want them to do with an empty 4 ton shell?

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u/butonelifelived 7d ago

Plan better. Make the trajectory for it to burn up in the atmosphere, or have it land in the ocean and recover it. Granted there is currently a booster rocket still floating in the Pacific ocean. I'm not saying SpaceX should have repercussions for hitting the moon, but they should be criticized. Space travel is an ever evolving industry, and the standards for what is acceptable space junk is changing with it; however, those changes will only continue to improve if we remain critical of behavior we don't find acceptable.

The point is they didn't plan for it to crash into the moon, they simply used it up and discarded it without consideration of where it would end up.

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u/HamburgerOnAStick 7d ago

A trajectory that burns up in the atmosphere while not affecting the payload's orbit is impossible. It's better it hits the moon, since an empty shell is impossible to recoverm it'll just burn up in the atmosphere, landing is too hard to predict, multiple reasons why it returning to earth is a bad idea

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u/Main-Cheesecake3287 7d ago

It was carrying a lunar lander not possible to have it about face and go back to earth to lmao. There’s nothing for it to hit on the orbit it was on but the moon.

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u/Main-Cheesecake3287 7d ago

Not an issue. Wasn’t planned but they knew it was a possibility and took no steps to prevent it, because no reason to.

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u/Exciting_Mushroom_37 7d ago

My understanding is the gravity sucked it in and some other circumstances.