SpaceX rocket piece to crash into moon Wednesday

A four-metric-ton piece of SpaceX rocket debris is set to crash into the moon early Wednesday morning, marking a rare unintended impact on the lunar surface. The object is the second stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that launched a lunar lander in January 2025.

The debris is expected to hit Einstein Crater on the moon's western limb around 2:35 a.m. ET, impacting at approximately 5,400 miles per hour. While the collision will likely create a plume of lunar dust, it will be difficult to spot from Earth with the naked eye. SpaceX confirmed the impact is unintentional.

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What has happened is essentially a mixture of solar activity and gravity forces have put it on a path toward the moon.

Normally, such rocket stages re-enter Earth's atmosphere and burn up or fall into the ocean. However, this particular stage remained in space after its mission required more thrust than usual. It has been drifting aimlessly among other pieces of space junk, posing a navigation hazard for active satellites.

Astronomers determined earlier this year that the uncontrolled rocket stage was on a trajectory toward the moon. "What has happened is essentially a mixture of solar activity and gravity forces have put it on a path toward the moon," said Julianna Scheiman, SpaceX director of NASA science and Dragon programs. While the event may offer minor scientific insights, Bill Gray, who developed astronomy software, noted it "does highlight a certain carelessness about how leftover space hardware (space junk) is disposed of."

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It doesn't present any danger to anyone, though it does highlight a certain carelessness about how leftover space hardware (space junk) is disposed of.