Subject: Re: 4 March 2022 Lunar Impact
From: Daniel Adamo <[email-masked]>
To: "ATIG (A-K)" <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 27 Jun 2022 16:27:48 -0700

ATIG Members-

As many of you may know by now, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has indeed obtained anticipated imagery of scars left on the Moon by the subject impact.  This imagery was published late last week, and it’s documented in the Addendum on p. 42 of the revised attachment.

You’ll also find revisions in the last paragraph of p. 9 reflecting a change to the USSF’s SATCAT database made at some time after 12 March 2022.  The Chang’e 5-T1 mission’s rocket body now carries a DECAY date of 2022-03-04, linking it to WE0913A’s lunar impact (the date in question had been 2015-10-06).  Narrative regarding the advisability of this change has been removed from the end of Section 3.0 in the attachment.  A recommendation advocating a similar SATCAT revision has also been removed from the attachment.  This recommendation had appeared as the second paragraph of Section 6.0.

Finally, the attachment’s title has been revised from “Object WE0913A, Humanity’s First Unintended Lunar Impact” to “Object WE0913A, When A Translunar Rocket Disposal Is Left To Chance”.  A reader remarked the old title isn’t accurate: multiple lunar landing attempts have inadvertently crashed on the Moon.  The new title evokes the cautionary tale WE0913A tells, particularly to mission planners in the Artemis Era.

-Dan

From: Daniel Adamo <[email-masked]>
Date: Saturday, April 16, 2022 at 21:26
Subject: Re: 4 March 2022 Lunar Impact

ATIG Members-

As the February notes in this thread indicate, accounts written at that time were very much in the fog of war regarding the nature and implications of March 4's lunar impact.  More than a month after this event, it is now possible to issue a comprehensive account of the impactor's origin and how its chaotic trajectory evolved.

Although the attached PDF file is 41 pages in length, most content is devoted to trajectory graphics illustrating the impactor's protracted journey to the Moon.  To facilitate navigation, this document's sections are bookmarked to form a clickable table of contents.  Please be in touch with any comments or questions.  Enjoy your read!

-Dan

From: Daniel Adamo <[email-masked]>
Date: Sunday, February 13, 2022 at 07:23
Subject: Re: 4 March 2022 Lunar Impact

ATIG Members-

Association of the March 4 lunar impact with DSCOVR's jettisoned Falcon 9 second stage has been demonstrated to be a case of mistaken identity.  The subject of this thread has been changed accordingly.  In the attached revision, whose file name has also been changed, a fourth page has been added explaining this error's origin and relating a more rigorous analysis leading to the hypothesis this impactor was launched with the Chang'e 5-T1 mission.  Minor edits to Figure 1 's caption are also included.

-Dan

 

From: Daniel Adamo <[email-masked]>
Date: Thursday, February 10, 2022 at 06:43
Subject: DSCOVR Falcon 9 2nd Stage Lunar Impact

ATIG Members-

Per the attached paper, an unplanned lunar impact is about to occur on the Moon's farside March 4.  This "bare bones" publication is being sent your way to enhance appreciation of this event in advance.  After the impact, a revision will likely be published to include any imagery of the resulting crater obtained by Moon-orbiting assets.  As always, your commentary is welcome.

-Dan