Photo: Science Photo Library - MARK GARLICK. / Brand X Pictures / Getty Images
A piece of a SpaceX rocket is expected to slam into the moon Wednesday near Einstein Crater at around seven times the speed of sound.
The 5-ton Falcon 9 rocket upper stage is set to strike August 5, 2026, around 2:34 EST.
SpaceX launched the rocket on January 15th, 2025, from Cape Canaveral, carrying the Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost-1 and the Resilience lunar landers.
After successfully completing the mission, it ran out of fuel and was not able to return to Earth or head into deep space.
Instead, its unstable orbit succumbed to gravity and guided it on a lunar collision course.
According to scientists, the impact will be equivalent to three tons of TNT and is expected to leave a 16-foot crater, 5-feet deep.
A dust plume kicked up by the collision may be visible with a telescope from earth giving NASA scientists a rare opportunity to study a lunar impact up close.
Fortunately, the rocket’s upper stage is not expected to hit Earth any time soon and this will mark the second known time space debris has hit the moon.