Defunct SpaceX rocket crashes into Moon at 8,690km/h
A stray piece of a rocket, the size of a school bus, has smashed into the Moon, likely creating a new crater.
A defunct SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket second stage, weighing 4,000 kilograms, struck the Moon yesterday, traveling at 8,690 kilometers per hour. The European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope in Chile detected sodium and lithium gases in an impact plume that lasted for 5 to 10 minutes after the collision. The rocket, which launched a lunar lander from Firefly Aerospace in January 2025, had drifted off course for a year before its accidental impact near the Moon's terminator line.
Scientists predict this event could provide insights into lunar dust composition and the consequences of uncontrolled space debris.
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