During their flight on the other side of the Moon, Artemis II astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft observed as many as six flashes coming from the lunar surface. Surprisingly, they witnessed petite meteorites impacting the earth and producing brief flashes of delicate.
NASA’s control room recorded the team’s surprise during a live broadcast of the mission, although cameras did not pick up the flashes. According to the astronauts, the flashes were white or blue-white and lasted less than a second. The cameras they used to document the moon weren’t speedy enough to record it.
The crew flew a distance of 6,000 to 7,000 kilometers. Under normal circumstances, these effects would go unnoticed. However, at that time they were investigating a solar eclipse that left the far side of the Moon completely dim. This extreme contrast allowed them to distinguish brief flashes coming from the surface.
Before the trip, the Artemis II team trained to identify possible meteorite impacts on the Moon. They immediately recognized what they saw and reported it according to their protocols. NASA Later confirmed that these were natural collisions on the satellite, a scenario that had been monitored for years. The agency has not yet issued a statement, but the conversation was recorded in a live broadcast on YouTube.
The problem of meteorites on the Moon
Since the idea of building eternal lunar bases emerged, various teams have assessed the risks to future inhabitants. Currently, the two main challenges are “moonquakes” and meteorite impacts. In the case of the former, it is planned to install seismographs that will facilitate understand this phenomenon. In the case of meteorites, astronomers already know the approximate frequency, and observations such as the last six bursts facilitate refine existing models.
On Earth, the atmosphere destroys most meteorites before they reach the ground. Only the bigger ones go through this and it’s a occasional scenario. The moon lacks this protective layer, which means every piece of space rock hits its surface. Hundreds of millions of craters on the Moon prove this.
When exploring space, even petite objects can pose a threat. For example, a micrometeorite moving at a speed of several dozen kilometers per second can penetrate gaunt materials or damage necessary equipment. Fragments larger than centimeters in size act as high-energy projectiles, similar to bullets, and can threaten habitats. Objects larger than 1 meter in diameter generate craters; although they are extremely occasional, they pose a real risk.