China Denies Responsibility for Throwing Junked Rocket Booster on the Far Side of the Moon

China denied the responsibility for its junked rocket about to crash into the far side of the Moon on Monday.

This was after scientists suggested the space trash expected to smash onto the Lunar's surface next month was most likely a remnant from a Chinese lunar mission in 2014.

Initially, astronomers assumed the stray item was a piece of a SpaceX rocket that launched seven years ago and was left in orbit after completing its mission.

However, it is now thought to be the rocket for the Chang'e 5-T1, which was launched in 2014 as part of China's lunar exploration program.

On March 4, the rocket is slated to crash onto the moon's far side.

China Denies Responsibility Of Throwing Junked Rocket Booster On The Far Side Of The Moon

At a regular news briefing, Beijing spokeswoman Wang Wenbin has acknowledged expert analysis and media coverage on the subject.

"China's aerospace endeavors are always in keeping with international law," Wang said in the official transcript of his regular press conference.

However, China has refused to take responsibility for a junk rocket booster due to colliding with the moon's far side.

Wang, citing "Chinese monitoring," underscored that the Chang'e 5 rocket had securely re-entered the atmosphere and totally burnt up.

"We are committed to earnestly safeguarding the long-term sustainability of outer space activities and are ready to have extensive exchanges and cooperation with all sides," he added during the press conference.

Experts Confused if Which Chang'e 5 Mission Wang Was Saying

According to Space News, there may have been some uncertainty over which mission Wang was referring to.

Wang referred to the "Chang'e 5 mission" in both the English transcripts and the Chinese video of the news conference, not the "Chang'e 5-T1 mission," which was the subject of the inquiry.

China launched Chang'e 5-T1 mission in 2014 to gather samples from the moon after debris was projected to impact it.

The Chang'e 5 mission was launched in 2020 to collect samples from the moon. According to Space News, the top stage of the 2020 mission re-entered the Earth a week after it was launched.

Effects of Untracked Space Junk a Red Flag

In any event, the impending collision illustrates the scientific community's concerns about the effects of untracked debris, particularly as more and more missions to deeper space are planned.

In a university news release, Grace Halferty of the University of Arizona's Space Domain Awareness team said that the concept of so many things in space with unknown orbits and identities is concerning.

Vishnu Reddy, co-director of the Space Domain Awareness lab, anticipated that the event would bring attention to the rising problem of space junk.

The science community is concerned about the increased pollution," Reddy stated in the same UArizona release.

Check out more news and information on Space in Science Times.