It looks like a SpaceX rocket did slam into the moon (as predicted)
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rocket → look → moon
No images yet, but telescope detects telltale plume of debris
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telescope → detect → debris
A SpaceX rocket that launched a pair of lunar landers slammed into the moon as predicted on Wednesday after drifting off course for the past year, scientists reported.
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scientists → launch → year
Although no one observed the actual 8,700-km/h collision, a telescope in Chile spotted what astronomers have identified as the debris plume resulting from the crash.
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astronomers → observe → crash
Space tracking experts said it was inevitable that the leftover rocket segment plowed into the moon.
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segment → say → moon
It's the latest instance of lunar litter — a problem that many fear could worsen as the U.S. and China race to put astronauts on the moon.
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U.S. → fear → moon
In 2022, a Chinese rocket unintentionally hit the moon following a lunar mission, and many more stray rocket pieces likely struck the moon in decades past without scientists' knowledge.
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pieces → hit → knowledge
SpaceX's Julianna Scheiman said this week that the company is working with NASA to avoid future wrecks, stressing that this projected crash was not deliberate.
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crash → say → wrecks
A combination of solar activity and gravity accidentally put it on a collision course with the moon, she said.
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she → put → moon
'100 per cent certain'
Boston University's Carl Schmidt said he is "100 per cent certain" that his team's observations revealed signs of the lunar crash.
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observations → say → crash
The European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope detected a stream of sodium and lithium stretching tens of kilometres into space for at least five to 10 minutes following the impact, he added.
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he → detect → impact
"We don't have images of the impact," but there's telescope evidence, Schmidt said in an email.
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Schmidt → have → email
A SpaceX rocket will slam into the moon on Wednesday, and astronomers will be watching closely
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astronomers → slam → Wednesday
NASA has set its sights on a moon base.
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NASA → set → base
Here's how Canada can play an important role
Even before signs of the debris plume were spotted by the telescope in Chile, retired astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell noted that observations of the dead, four-tonne upper stage on Tuesday night showed it heading straight for the moon.
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it → play → moon
The anticipated crash site was a dusty, barren patch near Einstein Crater on the moon's sunlit western limb — near the edge of the near and far sides, which is especially difficult to observe from Earth.
"There's no doubt in my mind" that the rocket "is now in teeny, little pieces scattered over the moon near Einstein Crater," McDowell told The Associated Press.
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McDowell → anticipate → Press
"As a physicist, I know that what goes up must come down," he added.
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he → know → physicist
Did anyone actually see it?
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anyone → see → it
Stargazers knew it would be difficult, if not impossible, from the ground to see the plume of dust and rock ejected from the resulting crater, let alone the flash of light from the impact.
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it → know → impact
Orbiting spacecraft had the best chance of witnessing anything — or at least observing the crater after the fact.
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Orbiting → orbit → fact
Dutch scientist Marco Langbroek was among those aiming his telescope at the moon at the appointed time, but he came up empty.
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he → aim → time
"We knew this would be a long shot," he said.
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he → know → ?
Like McDowell, Langbroek said he had "no doubt" the rocket met its doom.
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rocket → say → doom
Visual confirmation, McDowell noted, will have to wait for NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter to fly over the crash scene and send back photos of the impact crater.
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Orbiter → note → crater
The space agency doesn't expect that to happen until next week.
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that → expect → week
The Falcon rocket's upper stage — a fat cylinder more than 12 metres long — hoisted two private lunar landers from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Jan. 15, 2025.
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stage → hoist → Jan.
It ended up adrift after putting Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost and ispace's Resilience on course for the moon.
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It → end → moon
Resilience wrecked, but Blue Ghost aced its touchdown, becoming the first private spacecraft to do so.
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Ghost → wreck → touchdown
Space junk is raining from the sky.
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junk → rain → sky
Who's responsible when it hits the Earth?
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it → hit → Earth
SpaceX retrieves space junk from Sask.
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SpaceX → retrieve → Sask
The moon is the new go-to destination in space, with NASA envisioning a stampede of robotic craft over the next several years to form the foundation for a sustainable lunar base.
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NASA → go → base
Elon Musk's SpaceX and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin will provide the lunar landers for NASA's Artemis astronauts.
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SpaceX → provide → astronauts
Musk's Starship is making steady progress in test flights from Texas.
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Starship → make → Texas
Bezos' Blue Moon lander has yet to launch.
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lander → have → ?
One or both landers will take part in next year's Artemis III, a docking rehearsal in orbit around Earth.
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landers → take → Earth
A lunar touchdown by astronauts — the first since NASA's Apollo moonshots — could follow as soon as 2028.
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touchdown → follow → 2028
"Things are going to get a lot busier near the moon," McDowell said.
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McDowell → go → moon
"At that point, an impact like this on the lunar surface, plowing up huge amounts of dust going for hundreds of miles around, is not going to be acceptable."
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impact → plow → miles
The Aporia
