A four-tonne section of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to crash into the moon this Wednesday. The object, which is roughly the size of a school bus, has been drifting through space since it launched a lunar lander back in January 2025. It will impact the lunar surface at 5,400 miles per hour.
NASA expects the collision to produce a crater measuring approximately 60 feet wide and 12 feet deep. While the event will kick up a significant amount of dust and rock, it poses no threat to Earth. Astronomers identified the trajectory earlier this year after solar activity and gravity pushed the spent stage toward the moon.
This incident brings attention to how leftover space hardware is handled once missions conclude. While most rocket stages are designed to fall back into Earth's atmosphere or descend into the ocean, this specific piece remained in orbit due to the high-thrust requirements of its original mission. NASA plans to monitor the impact site to gather data on artificial collisions in space.
SpaceX and NASA are currently discussing methods to prevent similar lunar impacts in the future. The event highlights the growing challenge of managing space junk as companies continue to expand their presence beyond Earth orbit.