NASA says the rocket about to crash into the moon isn't a SpaceX model

Washington DC - As the viral TikTok song goes: "I sit by myself, talking to the moon" – trying to warn it about an incoming rocket about to crash-land on its surface.

Debris from an old Chinese rocket will crash-land on the moon's surface next month (stock image).
Debris from an old Chinese rocket will crash-land on the moon's surface next month (stock image).  © Collage: IMAGO / Leemage & Panthermedia

But one detail of this has changed.

After initial reports about the impending impact of a SpaceX rocket on the moon, NASA has offered a correction: a new analysis shows that the debris due to crash into our nearest neighbor is probably part of an old Chinese rocket.

It's likely a Chang'e 5-T1 booster that was launched into space from Earth in 2014.

NASA concluded this from orbits of the object in 2016 and 2017, DPA has learned.

The impact on the far side of the moon is expected on March 4.

Earlier, the US space agency said it expected an errant Falcon 9 rocket stage from SpaceX's could collide with the moon next month.

The rocket was launched from Cape Canaveral in 2015, but there was not enough fuel in the stage to get it back to Earth, so it has been floating in space ever since.

Cover photo: Collage: IMAGO / Leemage & Panthermedia

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