Discarded SpaceX Rocket Set to Crash Into the Moon Tonight

A discarded SpaceX rocket stage is on track to slam into the moon early Wednesday, and the impact could kick up a towering plume of lunar dust visible through telescopes from parts of the Americas.

Falcon 9 Stage Set to Strike Near the Moon's Einstein Crater

The spent upper stage of a Falcon 9 rocket is projected to hit near Einstein Crater at approximately 2:34 a.m. EDT on Aug. 5, according to an international study submitted to Geophysical Research Letters. Traveling about 5,400 mph, the nearly 9,000-pound stage will strike the sunlit eastern edge of the moon as seen from Earth.

Scientists expect the collision to vaporize the rocket stage, produce a brief flash, and carve out a crater roughly 65 to 100 feet across and about 16 feet deep. The new crater itself will be too small to see from Earth, but researchers say the resulting cloud of dust and debris rising above it may be observable for several minutes.

The study estimates the main curtain of ejected material could rise 9 to 12 miles above the surface, while a narrow central spike could climb 47 to 62 miles and the plume could spread more than 110 miles across. Computer simulations suggest sunlight reflecting off the dust could make the plume far brighter than the surrounding dark sky in the minutes after impact, though researchers caution its actual brightness remains uncertain.