SpaceX Falcon 9 is expected to make an unplanned impact on the Moon today as the rocket’s second stage collides with the lunar surface after remaining in space since January 2025.
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Experts estimate the approximately four-ton rocket stage will strike the Moon’s Einstein Crater at a speed of about 8,690 kilometres per hour.
Impact Will Create Lunar Dust
Scientists expect the collision to produce large clouds of lunar dust.
However, people on Earth will not be able to see the impact with the naked eye.
Researchers believe the event could provide valuable scientific information about the Moon’s surface and impact processes.
SpaceX Explains the Incident
SpaceX said the collision was unintentional.
The company explained that the lunar mission required extra power. Therefore, the rocket’s second stage remained in space instead of returning to Earth.
Later, solar activity and gravitational forces gradually altered its orbit and directed it toward the Moon.
No Risk to Earth
Experts stressed that the impact poses no danger to people or Earth.
Nevertheless, they said the incident highlights the growing challenge of managing space debris and disposing of spacecraft safely after missions.
Not the First Lunar Collision
A Chinese rocket stage accidentally struck the Moon in 2022.
Meanwhile, NASA intentionally crashed rocket stages into the Moon during scientific missions in the 1970s and again in 2009 to support lunar research.
