As aplanetary scientist who studies the Moon, I view this unplanned impact as an exciting opportunity.
However, scientists rarely get a glimpse of the projectiles usually asteroids or comets thatform these craters.
Astronomers know that the object is an upper stage booster discarded from a high-altitude satellite launch.
It is roughly 40 feet (12 meters) long and weighs nearly 10,000 pounds (4,500 kilograms).
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A twin shock wave will travel downward into the powdery top layer of theMoons surface called the regolith.
Virtually nothing will remain of the ill-fated rocket.
I was a part of theLCROSS mission, and it was a smashing success.
It will be like seeing the LCROSS crater in full detail for the first time.
Lunar orbiters from other space agencies may also traintheir camerason the crater.
The amount of heat generated from the impact will also be valuable information.
This could be used to calculate the total amount of heat from the impact.
Some of these effects canextend for hundreds of times the radius of the crater.
Why this is important
Impacts and crater formation are apervasive phenomenonin the solar system.
Craters shatter and fragment planetary crusts, gradually forming the loose, granular top layer common onmost airless worlds.
However, the overall physics of this process are poorly understood despite how common it is.
