Space Explored by Seth Kurkowski Jan. 24th 2022
Seven years ago, SpaceX launched its first mission out of Earth orbit for NOAA, and since then, its upper stage has stuck around. But, according to a community of observers, it will meet an end crashing into the Moon soon.
What SpaceX launch was this?
For SpaceX, 2015 was a breakout year. It began with the company’s first droneship landing, which failed, and ended with the first-ever successful landing of a Falcon 9 booster back at LZ-1. 2015 was also the last time the company lagged behind ULA’s Atlas V as the most launched US rocket for the year.
Finally, SpaceX was tasked to launch NOAA’s Deep Space Climatary Observatory (DSCOVR) out to the Earth-Sun L1 Lagrange Point, opposite the L2 point NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is arriving at today. DSCOVR was the first mission for SpaceX to leave Earth’s orbit and was the first time the rocket’s second stage couldn’t use the Earth’s atmosphere to deorbit itself, a tactic regularly used to reduce space debris.
More:
https://spaceexplored.com/2022/01/24/a-spacex-rocket-stage-is-about-to-crash-into-the-moon/
