School-bus-sized SpaceX rocket chunk crashes into Moon

A chunk of a SpaceX rocket, approximately the size of a school bus, has crashed into the moon, according to space tracking experts. The object, identified as the second stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, had been adrift in space for over a year after launching a lunar lander in January 2025. Scientists detected the collision indirectly through a debris plume spotted by a telescope in Chile, confirming the inevitable impact.

The 4,000kg rocket body was traveling at about 8,690 km/h when it struck the lunar surface. This event marks the latest instance of "lunar litter," a growing concern as nations like the United States and China intensify their efforts to land astronauts on the moon. Experts believe this debris could pose a greater problem in the future.

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We don't have images of the impact, but there is telescope evidence.

SpaceX acknowledged the incident, with Julianna Scheiman, director of Dragon Human Spaceflight, stating that the company is collaborating with NASA to prevent future occurrences. She emphasized that the collision was accidental, caused by a combination of solar activity and gravity that put the rocket segment on a collision course. While direct images of the impact are unavailable, telescopic evidence, including a stream of sodium and lithium detected by the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope, strongly supports the conclusion of the crash.

Retired astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell noted that observations on Tuesday showed the rocket stage heading directly for the moon. The anticipated crash site was a barren area near Einstein Crater on the moon's western limb, an area challenging to observe from Earth. McDowell expressed certainty that the rocket is now fragmented into small pieces scattered across the lunar surface near the crater.

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There's no doubt in my mind that the rocket is now in teeny, little pieces scattered over the moon near Einstein Crater.