SOFT NEWS SpaceX rocket stage will impact the Moon tonight

T

tanstaafl

Has No Life - Lives on TB
Assuming they know what they're talking about, the SpaceX rocket stage will impact at about 2:35 a.m. East Coast Time and 11:35 p.m. West Coast time. If you know exactly where to look and have a very good telescope, you might be able to see the impact on the rim of Einstein Crater. Not so long ago the Japanese saw (presumably with a telescope) a very small asteroid impacting so I guess it's in the realm of the possible, but I will be surprised if this one is visible to the naked eye. Personally, I'm deeply offended that SpaceX is polluting the lunar ecosystem. :rolleyes: (that's a joke, but there are actually people who think exactly that)
 
tanstaafl said:
Assuming they know what they're talking about, the SpaceX rocket stage will impact at about 2:35 a.m. East Coast Time and 11:35 p.m. West Coast time. If you know exactly where to look and have a very good telescope, you might be able to see the impact on the rim of Einstein Crater. Not so long ago the Japanese saw (presumably with a telescope) a very small asteroid impacting so I guess it's in the realm of the possible, but I will be surprised if this one is visible to the naked eye. Personally, I'm deeply offended that SpaceX is polluting the lunar ecosystem. :rolleyes: (that's a joke, but there are actually people who think exactly that)
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I got mixed feelings we are leaving rubbish behind on other planets. But at the same time, when we are all long gone, another advanced creature may find it and get interested.

My biggest concern is the lack of concern with items being brought back from outer space. Especially with viruses and bacteria that isn't normally on Earth.

Maybe I'm paranoid, but what if something else is out there and is getting mad we are making a mess of their planets and what not. I dunno. It's not like we can go clean it up, but I could see on their side, if we want to send it there, we should be figuring out how to send it all back. Kind of like telling your kids to go pick up their toys off the floor in the living room type of deal. Or like when you go to a public park, take your trash with you and leave no trace.
 
diesel85 said:
I got mixed feelings we are leaving rubbish behind on other planets. But at the same time, when we are all long gone, another advanced creature may find it and get interested.

My biggest concern is the lack of concern with items being brought back from outer space. Especially with viruses and bacteria that isn't normally on Earth.

Maybe I'm paranoid, but what if something else is out there and is getting mad we are making a mess of their planets and what not. I dunno. It's not like we can go clean it up, but I could see on their side, if we want to send it there, we should be figuring out how to send it all back. Kind of like telling your kids to go pick up their toys off the floor in the living room type of deal. Or like when you go to a public park, take your trash with you and leave no trace.
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As for bringing things back, the quarantine standards are high, both to avoid contagion here and to keep from altering what we bring back. That is more or less covered. Besides, from a biological standpoint, most things that make animals sick are things biologically compatible in being able to do so.

As for littering, the amount of debris and equipment left on other celestial bodies is extreeeeemely dilute in comparison to the the size and number of places where we've been. If some landlord of the system takes offense, or would be able to easily even notice, I doubt they would be too upset.
 
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tanstaafl said:
Assuming they know what they're talking about, the SpaceX rocket stage will impact at about 2:35 a.m. East Coast Time and 11:35 p.m. West Coast time. If you know exactly where to look and have a very good telescope, you might be able to see the impact on the rim of Einstein Crater. Not so long ago the Japanese saw (presumably with a telescope) a very small asteroid impacting so I guess it's in the realm of the possible, but I will be surprised if this one is visible to the naked eye. Personally, I'm deeply offended that SpaceX is polluting the lunar ecosystem. :rolleyes: (that's a joke, but there are actually people who think exactly that)
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Do the flat earthers know about this?
 
I just saw this, so I'm still waiting for stories with actual details: "Professional and amateur astronomers using high-quality telescopes and cameras were not able to immediately confirm the impact on Wednesday, possibly due to the impact site being close to the visible edges of the moon. Nasa has said the impact was expected to create a crater about 60ft (18 metres) wide and 12ft (four metres) deep and throw dust and rock outward as ejecta."
 
Space trivia: The first spacecraft to exceed Earth escape velocity (Luna-1 in 1959) is still orbiting between Mars and Earth. The Soviet mission was supposed to impact the Moon ... but they missed!
 
diesel85 said:
I got mixed feelings we are leaving rubbish behind on other planets. But at the same time, when we are all long gone, another advanced creature may find it and get interested.

My biggest concern is the lack of concern with items being brought back from outer space. Especially with viruses and bacteria that isn't normally on Earth.

Maybe I'm paranoid, but what if something else is out there and is getting mad we are making a mess of their planets and what not. I dunno. It's not like we can go clean it up, but I could see on their side, if we want to send it there, we should be figuring out how to send it all back. Kind of like telling your kids to go pick up their toys off the floor in the living room type of deal. Or like when you go to a public park, take your trash with you and leave no trace.
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Rest easy brother. No one has found any bacteria or viruses in or from outer space and if they did t would be the greatest story in modern history because that would confirm extraterrestrial life!

As to extraterrestrial life, I'm comfortable with either idea: Either we are it and the rest of the universe is a sterile rubble field or there is other life. There are theological and scientific arguments for both cases. I firmly believe that if there is extraterrestrial life there won't be just a little of it. You know, a handful of bacteria discovered on a strange planet. No sir! If there is just one alien bacteria discovered I think that means that at least parts of the universe are teaming with life.

You are 100% correct about the dangers from any alien bacteria, viruses or even infection mechanisms we haven't seen yet. As TheSearcher said, I think we have those dangers pretty well covered.

Best
Doc
 
The Informant:

The upper stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket struck the Moon early Wednesday, Aug. 5, around 2:35 a.m. ET — an unintentional impact near the Einstein and Bell craters on the western lunar limb, at roughly 5,400 mph.

The stage had been drifting since Jan. 15, 2025, when it carried the Blue Ghost and Resilience landers toward the Moon and was then left in a moon-crossing orbit. After 19 months, its trajectory finally intersected the surface.

Impact was inferred observationally: astronomers using the Very Large Telescope in Chile detected a plume of sodium and lithium gas, with a corroborating sodium emission spotted from Massachusetts. A lunar orbiter is expected to image the new crater later.

Two clarifications worth noting: this is the rocket's second (upper) stage, not the returnable booster — and it is a distinct event from the well-known March 2022 Falcon 9 impact, which involved a different 2015-era stage. The trajectory was first calculated by Bill Gray of Project Pluto; the accompanying study is a preprint, not yet peer-reviewed.

Context: There is still no formal tracking system for space debris beyond low-Earth orbit — a gap likely to matter more as lunar traffic grows.

Sources: CBS News, CNN, ABC News, TIME, Space.com

RT 0:08
https://twitter.com/x/status/2085007637800718549
View: https://twitter.com/i/status/2085007637800718549
 
tanstaafl said:
Assuming they know what they're talking about, the SpaceX rocket stage will impact at about 2:35 a.m. East Coast Time and 11:35 p.m. West Coast time. If you know exactly where to look and have a very good telescope, you might be able to see the impact on the rim of Einstein Crater. Not so long ago the Japanese saw (presumably with a telescope) a very small asteroid impacting so I guess it's in the realm of the possible, but I will be surprised if this one is visible to the naked eye. Personally, I'm deeply offended that SpaceX is polluting the lunar ecosystem. :rolleyes: (that's a joke, but there are actually people who think exactly that)
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Yeah... just discovered oldest son's new wife is one of them! Sigh...

Summerthyme
 
bracketquant said:
What specific lazer tests?
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I've seen three or so on Instagram mainly over Lake Michigan. It' difficult to find things on instagram. I know I think differently than many here but I believe there is a firmament over the earch as the Bible mentions. Some even mention the commercial flight paths are proof but those are not easy to verify. But it's much more that that - I thought the videos from the first moon landing were more than cheesy back then. I'm open to other explanations.
 
Did the moon ring like a bell?

Was there a crater or did the rocket punch through the crunchy candy shell?

Did the rocket try one of those landings?
 
Let’s try this Nietzsche idea . . .
How many believe that they just chucked an empty rocket at the moon for shits and grins?

How many see the possibilities for testing landing? Data collection? Automated Pre deployment of sensors And equipment?
 
As near as I can tell, no one saw the impact. Even the big observatories didn't see it, and a lot of astronomers were specifically looking for it. Considering the complete lack of video and/or pictures, I'm a little surprised the AI twats haven't already whipped something up and claimed it was the impact -- maybe that's tonight or tomorrow.
 
I the back of my mind I recalled there is a reason we can’t see details on the moon.

I have heard that there is a physics reason that we can’t see details on the moon with telescopes. true or false. what’s it called?

True. There are actually two major physics reasons why telescopes cannot see infinite detail on the Moon, depending on whether the telescope is on Earth or in space. [1, 2]

1. The Fundamental Physics Reason: The Diffraction Limit
The ultimate physics limitation that applies to all telescopes—even those in space—is called the diffraction limit (often calculated using Rayleigh's criterion). [1, 2, 3]
  • The Physics: Light behaves like a wave. When light waves pass through the circular opening (aperture) of a telescope lens or mirror, the waves bend and interfere with each other. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
  • The Effect: This bending blurs the light slightly, turning a sharp point of light into a tiny fuzzy disc (called an Airy disc). Because of this, two small features on the Moon that are very close together will blur into a single blob. [1, 2, 3]
  • The Rule: To see smaller details, you must build a physically larger telescope mirror. For example, even the Hubble Space Telescope can only resolve objects on the Moon that are about 300 feet (90 meters) or larger across due to its mirror size. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

2. The Earth-Bound Reason: Atmospheric Turbulence ("Seeing")
If you are looking through a telescope on Earth, a second physics problem called astronomical seeing limits your view long before you ever hit the diffraction limit. [1, 2]
  • The Physics: Earth's atmosphere is full of moving layers of air with different temperatures and densities. As light from the Moon travels through these churning layers, the air acts like a moving, warped window pane, constantly bending the light waves in random directions. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
  • The Effect: This causes the shifting and blurring image familiar to anyone who has seen stars "twinkle." Even with the world's most powerful ground telescopes, atmospheric turbulence generally limits our view of the Moon to details no smaller than about 0.5 to 1 mile across, unless advanced corrective systems (like adaptive optics) are used. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
 
They are countering the effects of the atmosphere with better and better software. I seem to recall that with the latest software some of the big observatories on Earth can now rival the Hubble Space Telescope. When the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) in Chile becomes operational in 2028 it is expected to provide sharper images than the HST, even taking into account the atmosphere (E-ELT will be the largest optical telescope on Earth). Considering the number of spacecraft in orbit around the Moon these days, I'm a little surprised none of them were able to see the impact, but as noted in a post above some of those spacecraft will probably be able to provide an image of the crater left behind. It may just be a matter of the time needed to go through the collected data -- not everything is done in real time or even beamed back in real time.
 
raven said:
Let’s try this Nietzsche idea . . .
How many believe that they just chucked an empty rocket at the moon for shits and grins?

How many see the possibilities for testing landing? Data collection? Automated Pre deployment of sensors And equipment?
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Nah. They're just sending up more license plate readers.

Best
Doc
 
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