Published : 03 Aug 2026, 01:49 AM
Updated : 08 Sep 2026, 09:29 AM
A SpaceX rocket stage that has been drifting through space for over a year is set to slam into the moon on Wednesday, becoming only the second dead rocket known to crash into the lunar surface accidentally.
The upper stage, left over from a mission that delivered a pair of lunar landers more than a year ago, will strike the moon at around 8,700km/h -- roughly seven times the speed of sound -- near Einstein Crater on the moon's sunlit western limb, according to space tracking expert Bill Gray.
The impact will carry the equivalent energy of three tonnes of TNT, carving out a crater estimated to be about 27m wide and 5m deep -- too small to see from Earth, but large enough to be captured by orbiting spacecraft.
Nasa's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and South Korea's Danuri lunar orbiter are both expected to photograph the crash site before and after impact.
The flash of the collision will last less than a second and will likely be too faint to observe from Earth, reports The Guardian.
However, the plume of ejected dust and debris could stretch several miles into space and remain visible through telescopes for tens of minutes.
Skywatchers in the eastern United States, Canada, and much of South America will have the best view of the aftermath, given the timing of the early-morning impact.
The crash was unintentional.
Experts say it could have been avoided had the upper stage been redirected into orbit around the Sun after completing its mission.
Instead, it was left to drift until lunar gravity pulled it in.
"Things are getting crowded up there," said Gray, who plans to observe the aftermath from New Brunswick, Canada.
Scientists say the event, while not a major concern in itself, draws attention to the mounting problem of space debris as more objects are launched into orbit.
Benjamin Fernando of Los Alamos National Laboratory said the impact would also offer valuable scientific data.
"Part of the reason for our interest in this event is to figure out how much of a hazard debris impacts pose to future astronauts," he said.
A Chinese rocket segment previously crashed into the moon's far side in 2022, gouging out a pair of craters.
Wednesday's impact will occur on the near side.
