A doomed rocket stage that’s expected to crash into the moon on March 4 will do so out of view of NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.
The collision is set to take place on the far side of the moon, out of range of Earthbound telescopes. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) does have the ability to observe the lunar farside, but it won’t be within view of the expected impact zone when the event happens, NASA told Space.com. However, a potential follow-up set of observations is in the works.
“The mission team is assessing if observations can be made to any changes to the lunar environment associated with the impact, and later identify the crater formed by the impact,” a NASA spokesperson told Space.com in an email.
“This unique event presents an exciting research opportunity. Following the impact, the mission can use its cameras to identify the impact site, comparing older images to images taken after the impact. The search for the impact crater will be challenging and might take weeks to months.”
source space.com
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