SpaceX rocket about to crash into the moon in unintentional collision
Piece of SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket weighing four tonnes will hit the lunar surface on Wednesday at 5,400 miles per hour A four-tonne piece of a SpaceX rocket that has been floating in space since last year is set to unintentionally crash into the moon at high speed on Wednesday, a collision that poses no danger to Earth but will leave behind a new lunar crater and afford an opportunity for further…
A four-tonne fragment of an abandoned SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is believed to have unintentionally collided with the lunar surface on Wednesday, according to initial reports. The object, roughly as tall as a five-story building, was part of the rocket that transported two commercial lunar landers from the US and Japan to the moon in January 2025.
The rocket body was set to strike the moon at a speed of 5,400mph (8,690 km/h), creating a plume of lunar dust that would be challenging to observe from Earth with the naked eye. Despite the collision posing no threat to Earth, scientists are eager to gather data on the event to improve tracking techniques for space objects. The impact is expected to generate a crater approximately 60ft (18 meters) wide and 12ft (4 meters) deep, while NASA anticipates utilizing this opportunity to delve into the effects of artificial impacts on the lunar surface.
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