After 7 years, a spent Falcon 9 rocket stage is on course to hit the Moon
Companies, agencies, institutions, etc
NOAA
Project Pluto
the Falcon 9's
NASA
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter
SpaceX
the Ars Orbital Transmission
CNMN Collection
WIRED Media Group
Condé Nast
People
Eric Berger
Moon
Bill Gray
Ars
Groups
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Physical locations
Sun-Earth
the Falcon 9's
Places
Falcon 9
Deep Space Climate Observatory
Locations
LaGrange
India
Events
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Summary
Typically, during interplanetary missions, a rocket's upper stage is sent into a heliocentric orbit, keeping it away from the Earth and its Moon.For launches of spacecraft intended to orbit the Earth, the best practice is to reserve enough fuel in a rocket's upper stage to return it to Earth's atmosphere, where it will burn up. The Moon, of course, has no atmosphere for the stage to burn up in.You must login or create an account to comment.Join the Ars Orbital Transmission mailing list to get weekly updates delivered to your inbox.
As said here by Eric Berger