Space junk punched a new hole in the moon. It’s not ours to abuse | Moriba Jah
The space industry treats the sky as a place to dump what it no longer wants. We must develop a new model of accountability On 5 August, a piece of a derelict SpaceX rocket traveling at 5,400 miles an hour met with the moon and punched a fresh hole into it near Einstein Crater . Astronomers were thrilled. The European Southern Observatory caught sodium and lithium flaring in the debris plume and…
On August 5th, a segment of an abandoned SpaceX spacecraft, hurtling at a staggering 5,400 miles per hour, collided with the moon, creating a fresh crater near Einstein Crater. Space enthusiasts were delighted by the discovery, as the European Southern Observatory detected traces of sodium and lithium in the debris plume, considering it an added bonus.
The incident garnered widespread media attention, with reports describing it as a breathtaking light show. However, no one was physically harmed, so no one bore responsibility, and the story faded from public consciousness within a week. As someone who has dedicated 20 years to monitoring the debris humanity leaves in space, I cannot emphasize enough the significance of this event: this crater is a stark reminder of an entire industry's callous disregard for the celestial bodies, treating them as mere dumping grounds for obsolete materials, and labeling such actions as "normal operations" or "space exploration".
Written by urgent.news from The Guardian US's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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