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Huge Rock Crashes Into Moon, Sparks Giant Explosion — Parallax Forums

Huge Rock Crashes Into Moon, Sparks Giant Explosion

Ron CzapalaRon Czapala Posts: 2,418
edited 2013-05-18 06:32 in General Discussion
The meteorite crashed on March 17, slamming into the lunar surface at a mind-boggling 56,000 mph (90,000 kph) and creating a new crater 65 feet wide (20 meters). The crash sparked a bright flash of light that would have been visible to anyone looking at the moon at the time with the naked eye, NASA scientists say.

Scientists deduced the rock had been roughly 1-foot-wide (between 0.3 to 0.4 meters) and weighted about 88 lbs (40 kg).The explosion it created was as powerful as 5 tons of TNT, NASA scientists said.


http://news.yahoo.com/huge-rock-crashes-moon-sparks-giant-explosion-152049489.html

Comments

  • WhitWhit Posts: 4,191
    edited 2013-05-17 13:50
    More like little rock moving really fast...
  • PublisonPublison Posts: 12,366
    edited 2013-05-17 13:57
    Cool!

    @Whit,

    good to se'ya around again.
  • W9GFOW9GFO Posts: 4,010
    edited 2013-05-17 16:59
    It is interesting that they can specify both the size and velocity based upon the brightness of the impact. It seems that a small rock moving faster or a larger one moving slower would both release the same amount of energy.
  • ElectricAyeElectricAye Posts: 4,561
    edited 2013-05-17 20:20
    W9GFO wrote: »
    It is interesting that they can specify both the size and velocity based upon the brightness of the impact.....

    Even more suspicious is that NASA claims to be able to discern that it is a rock... and not the bunker-busting killer-drone technology we all know the government is testing on the moon before they use it to destroy the supersized drink-cup industry and enslave us all. There needs to be an investigation into this. We need to know who knew about this. Where did they know it. When did they not know it. And why did they know when where knowing how made them not know who.

    Senator-Joe-McCarthy.jpg
  • LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
    edited 2013-05-18 03:58
    I agree.. very cool. With all the craters on the moon, we were bound to observe this kind of event.
  • JordanCClarkJordanCClark Posts: 198
    edited 2013-05-18 05:03
    ElectricAye wrote: »
    Even more suspicious is that NASA claims to be able to discern that it is a rock... and not the bunker-busting killer-drone technology we all know the government is testing on the moon before they use it to destroy the supersized drink-cup industry and enslave us all. There needs to be an investigation into this. We need to know who knew about this. Where did they know it. When did they not know it. And why did they know when where knowing how made them not know who.

    I'm almost depressed that I understood that...:lol:
  • Martin_HMartin_H Posts: 4,051
    edited 2013-05-18 06:25
    When I was a kid I remember reading Patrick Moore's Moon book and there was a discussion of transient lunar phenomenon (TLP's). In that era there were plenty of reports of them, but no photos or videos. Given the volume of reports it was assumed to likely be real, but of unknown cause. The top two theories were lunar volcanism or asteroid impacts, but the Apollo program collected enough evidence that the former was unlikely.

    The Moon and Jupiter are my two favorite objects to observe, and looking at the lunar terminator is impressive. I've never seen a TLP so it's good to see a video. They look exactly like the description I've read many times.
  • LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
    edited 2013-05-18 06:32
    i've always preferred the explanation that the moon's texture is the result of it being green cheese with lots of holes.

    The Chinese claim that there is a rabbit living on the moon (maybe it is all rabbit holes) and the Tree of Immortality.
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