First Images Show SpaceX Rocket Stage Impact on Moon

The South Korean space agency, KASA, has released the first images capturing the moment a spent SpaceX rocket stage impacted the lunar surface. This piece of space debris, the upper stage of a retired SpaceX rocket, met its dramatic end after 1.5 years drifting through space, colliding with the moon at a staggering 8,700 kilometers per hour.

Scientists had anticipated the crash would excavate a crater approximately 20 meters wide and 5 meters deep. The rocket stage itself measures 14 meters in length, 3.7 meters in width, and weighs around 4,000 kilograms. "The impact is expected to cause a huge cloud of dust and debris," previously stated Arnaud Mahieux of the Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy, who contributed to research on the impact's effects.

The Korean lunar orbiter Danuri managed to photograph the impact site both before and immediately after the collision. These images allowed scientists to document the changes on the moon's surface. Researchers had also predicted a substantial dust cloud, potentially rising 15 to 20 kilometers above the lunar surface, with some estimates reaching as high as 75 to 100 kilometers. This dust cloud was expected to scatter debris up to 180 kilometers away from the impact crater.

It remains unclear whether such a significant dust cloud actually formed, as no observation stations have yet captured images confirming it. The exact extent of the debris field is still under investigation.

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The impact is expected to cause a huge cloud of dust and debris