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While they are flying From the far side of the moon, Artemis II astronauts On board Orion spacecraft He saw up to six flashes coming out of the moon’s surface. Surprisingly, they were watching small meteors crash into the Earth and produce short flashes of light.
NASA’s control room recorded the team’s surprise during the mission’s live broadcast, although cameras did not capture the flashes. According to the astronauts, the flashes were white or blue in color and lasted less than a second. the The cameras they were using to document the moon It wasn’t fast enough to register.
The crew was flying between 6000 and 7000 kilometers away. Under normal circumstances, these effects would have gone unnoticed. However, at that time they were Study of solar eclipsesThis left the far side of the Moon completely dark. This intense contrast allowed them to distinguish short flashes that appeared from the surface.
before the trip, The Artemis II team has been trained To determine possible meteorite impacts on the Moon. They immediately recognized what they were seeing and reported it according to their protocols. NASA Later certain These were natural collisions with the satellite, a scenario they had been observing for years. The agency has not yet issued any statement, but the conversation was recorded live on YouTube.
The problem of meteorites on the moon
Since the idea of building permanent bases on the Moon first emerged, various teams have assessed the risks to future residents. The two main challenges today are “moonquakes” and meteorite impacts. For the former, there are plans to install seismometers to help understand the phenomenon. For meteorites, astronomers already know the approximate frequency, and observations such as the last six flashes help improve current models.
On Earth, the atmosphere destroys most meteorites before they reach Earth. Only larger companies make it through, and that’s a rare scenario. The Moon lacks that protective layer, which means any bits of space rock end up colliding with the surface. Hundreds of millions of lunar craters prove it.
In space exploration, even small objects can pose a danger. For example, a small meteorite moving at tens of kilometers per second can puncture thin materials or damage essential equipment. Fragments with a surface area exceeding centimeters act as high-energy projectiles, similar to bullets, and can endanger habitats. Objects larger than 1 meter wide create craters; Although it is extremely rare, it poses a real danger.