A SpaceX rocket will crash into the moon this week. Why is it on a collision course?

On Wednesday, August 5th at 2:35 a.m. EDT, the upper stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will collide with the moon, forming a 89-foot-wide crater. This event follows more than 18 months of the rocket drifting lazily above Earth before finally being propelled towards the lunar surface. The Falcon 9, which launched in January 2025 carrying private lunar landers, usually incinerates its upper stage during reentry, but the stage's fuel was depleted during the lunar mission, leaving the 8,800-pound rocket body adrift in a moon-crossing orbit.

While SpaceX attempted to modify the stage's trajectory to prevent the collision, natural forces ultimately altered its path. Astronomers and lunar scientists view this collision as an opportunity to study the resulting ejecta plume and better understand space debris hazards for future lunar infrastructure and astronauts. NASA plans to establish a base near the moon's south pole in the coming decade as part of its Artemis program.