Chris Hadfield
@Cmdr_Hadfield
Astronaut, back on Earth after 3 spaceflights.
For events and media, please write to info@chrishadfield.ca
Order books at
209 Following 2.1M Followers
On Wednesday one of these will crash into the Moon.
It's a @SpaceX Falcon 9 upper stage rocket & tank, used to propel lunar landers last year. It will hit near Einstein Crater at 5400 mph/8700 kph, blasting a crater 90ft/27m across, 16ft/5m deep.
Total, the Moon has been hit by 800+ human-made objects, but that's dwarfed by the natural impacts: tens of thousands of similar new meteor craters every year.
The Moon has no life or ecosystem to disrupt, but as we start landing more, we need to better track what we're doing: @openlunar has the world-leading Lunar Ledger ( doing just that.
Show more
We need heat shields to protect us, since we use the air to slow us down as we return to Earth.
From orbital speed, it gets to 1650°C / 3000°F. From the Moon: 2750°C / 5000°F.
For yesterday's Starship suborbital test flight, peak was 1450°C / 2600°F. Great to see the @SpaceX progress over the last 3 flights. Making them truly reusable is complex and necessary for permanent, cheap space access.
image compilation: @niccruzpatane
Show more
