ISRO shares photos of double craters created by rocket hitting the moon

ISRO shares photos of double craters created by rocket hitting the moon

According to NASA, the double crater was unexpected and suggested that the rocket could have large masses at both its ends.

The Chandrayan-2 mission of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has captured the site of impact on the moon after a used rocket hit the lunar surface. The collision took place on March 4 and resulted in a double crater on the moon’s surface. Months before the impact happened, astronomers had already detected a rocket body heading towards the moon. This sparked speculation on the origin of the rocket booster which remained a mystery. Astronomers then mapped the path of the space junk and proposed the date of the impact, which occurred as scheduled.

Now, more than four months after the event, ISRO has released pictures of the site of impact. The photos were taken using the Terrain Mapping Camera-2 (TMC-2) mounted on ISRO’s Chandrayan-2 in April.

ISRO shared before-after pictures of the site that showed two new craters on the lunar surface after the collision. According to the space agency, the spent rocket hit the moon near the Hertzsprung crater and created a double crater measuring 28 metres wide.

The crater was also spotted by US space agency NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. NASA too shared the pictures of the double craters where the eastern crater measured 18 metres in diameter while the western crater, measuring 16 metres in width, was superimposed on it.

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According to NASA, the double crater was unexpected and suggested that the rocket could have large masses at both its ends. Usually, spent or used rockets have mass concentrated at the motor end while the rest of their body is occupied mainly by an empty fuel tank.

Even after the impact and the site of impact being identified, the origin of the space junk is yet to be ascertained. Astronomers believe that the nature of the double crater can help shed some light on the identity of the object.

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