SpaceX Falcon 9 stage collides with Moon on Aug 5 2026

A four-tonne piece of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, adrift in space for over a year, collided with the Moon on Wednesday, August 5, 2026, in an uncontrolled impact that scientists are studying as a rare research opportunity. The event, which officials emphasized posed no danger to Earth, occurred at approximately 2:35 a.m. EDT (6:35 UTC) near the Einstein Crater on the Moon's sunlit western limb.

The rocket's upper stage, measuring roughly 45 feet long and comparable in size to a school bus, struck the lunar surface at a speed of about 5,400 miles per hour (8,690 kilometers per hour). The kinetic energy released was equivalent to approximately three tons of TNT. Scientists estimate the impact excavated a new crater, with projections ranging from 60 to 90 feet wide and 12 to 16 feet deep, and blasted a plume of lunar dust and rock high above the surface.

The object was part of a Falcon 9 rocket that launched on January 15, 2025, successfully delivering two commercial lunar landers, one for Firefly Aerospace and another for the Japanese company ispace. After completing its mission, the stage lacked sufficient fuel for a controlled deorbit into Earth's atmosphere, leaving it to drift....