Space Junk Expected To Collide with the Moon on Friday, Whose Problem Is It?

The moon is about to get hit by space junk at 5,800 mph (9,300 kph) speed on Friday, which will leave a crater that could fit numerous trucks.

Some experts think that the debris came from a launch almost a decade ago conducted by China. However, Chinese officials believe it is not theirs.

After asteroid tracker Bill Gray spotted the collision trajectory in January, SpaceX was first blamed for the forthcoming lunar trash. A month later, he clarified that the "mystery" item was not a SpaceX Falcon rocket upper stage from NASA's deep space climate observatory launch in 2015, per AP News report.

Gray believes it was the third stage of a Chinese rocket that orbited the moon in 2014 and returned with a test sample capsule. But, according to Chinese officials, the upper stage had reentered Earth's atmosphere and burned up.

What Will Happen to the Moon?

Whoever is responsible for the space junk, experts expect it will punch a hole 33 feet to 66 feet (10 to 20 meters) on the surface of the moon.

The impact will not significantly alter the moon, but some scientists believe that the event could generate important pieces of information for future studies.

The issue of space debris is well-known. According to the European Space Agency, more than 12,000 Earth-orbiting satellites have been launched since the space age began in 1957, with about 5,100 continuously functional.

As per the agency, more than 36,000 bits of debris larger than 10 centimeters are flying around in Earth's orbit. Dead satellites and remains of previous launches and anti-satellite missile tests are among the junk floating in space.

According to Nature, the moon already has a multitude of craters, some measuring up to 1,600 miles in diameter (2,500 kilometers). The moon is defenseless against the constant bombardment of meteors and asteroids, as well as the occasional incoming spacecraft, including a handful that purposefully crashed for scientific examinations. In 2009, NASA purposely smashed a spacecraft into the moon to know if water would pop out upon impact.

Impact craters on the moon stay permanently because no weather causes erosion on the surface.

The Problem of Space Junk

While the moon itself has no problem getting hit by space junk, experts on Earth warn that the growing number of debris orbiting the planet should be addressed.

The NPR reported that the US Department of Defense is tracking space trash. However, progress on removing the trash has lagged, according to Jonathan McDowell of the Harvard and Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

John Crassidis, director of the Center for Space Cyber Strategy and Cyber Security at the University at Buffalo, predicts that within 50 years, space agencies will not be able to launch any more satellites because there is too much junk floating in space, which is "a big concern."

Crassidis said that debris will multiply "when objects start to collide with other objects," which will produce a "cascading effect."

The sighted space junk does not pose a threat to Earth-dwellers. Though, for McDowell, it is going to be a "policy concern" in the long run.