Moon Gets New Crater From SpaceX Rocket Crash

A SpaceX rocket's upper stage, launched more than a year ago, is on a collision course with the moon, with impact scheduled for Wednesday. This event will carve out a crater and eject a plume of dust, which scientists and sky gazers are eager to observe. The predicted impact speed is 5,400 mph near Einstein Crater.

This unintentional lunar crash is the second known instance of a dead rocket hitting the moon, following a Chinese rocket segment in 2022. While this specific piece of space junk is not a significant concern, it brings attention to the growing threat of orbital debris. Experts are encouraging observations to better understand the hazards such impacts pose to future space missions.

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and South Korea's Danuri lunar orbiter are expected to capture before-and-after images of the crash site. The impact is anticipated to create a crater approximately 90 feet across and 16 feet deep, too small to be seen from Earth but detectable by spacecraft.