A SpaceX rocket is about to crash into Moon
What's the story
A retired piece of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is set to crash into the Moon, creating a new crater. It will hit the lunar surface on August 5. The upper stage of the Falcon 9, which is about as tall as a five-storey building, has been in a highly elliptical orbit for over a year. Unlike the reusable first stage that returns to Earth post-launch, the upper stage stays in orbit once its mission is complete.
Impact details
Impact will create a new crater on the Moon
The Falcon 9 upper stage is expected to crash at 19.455° North latitude and 266.406° East longitude.
The impact will not be visually spectacular but will create a new crater on the Moon's surface.
Scientists hope that studying this impact and its debris could reveal important information about the Moon's surface composition and the physics of impact cratering.
Monitoring difficulties
Growing concern over space debris
Tracking the distant Falcon 9 upper stage is challenging. While the US military uses radar to monitor thousands of low-Earth orbit debris pieces, objects near the Moon are 400 times farther away, stretching detection limits.
Most stages burn up in Earth's atmosphere or orbit harmlessly, but some drift for years before striking celestial bodies.
Though these impacts pose no immediate danger, they highlight the urgent need for better orbital disposal strategies as human space exploration expands.