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Why is a 4,500kg SpaceX rocket crashing into the Moon? Here's what we know about the August 5 impact
On Wednesday, August 5, the high-speed collision of the rocket's upper stage with the moon would carve out a crater.
A discarded piece of hardware from Elon Musk’s SpaceX is on a high-speed collision course with the Earth's celestial neighbor. Moving through space, the drifting rocket is reportedly locked on a crash course with the Moon.
The upcoming collision is going to give scientists rare, front-row seats to observe a high-speed lunar impact.
On Wednesday, August 5, the high-speed collision of the rocket's upper stage will carve out a crater, according to a news agency AP report. The impact will also send up a dramatic cloud of debris or dust.
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SpaceX rocket on collision course with the moon - What's happening?
The crash will be the aftermath of a space mission launched in 2025. The 40-foot-long abandoned rocket segment reportedly hoisted two private lunar landers on January 15, 2025:
- Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost, which successfully became the first private spacecraft to pull off a fully successful lunar touchdown
- A lander of Japan-based ispace, which was wrecked.
SpaceX never intended for the discarded rocket segment to hit the Moon.
According to the report, space experts note that the collision could have been avoided had the stage been maneuvered into a stable orbit around the Sun.
What will happen during the impact?
When the 4,500-kilogram structure collides with the Moon, it will do so with significant force:
Extreme speed: Bill Gray, who is a space tracking expert, has predicted an impact of 8,700 kph, seven times the speed of sound, as per the report.
Power: The crash will occur with the equivalent energy of three tons of TNT.
Location: The collision will occur on the Moon’s near side.
Crater: Los Alamos National Laboratory researcher Benjamin Fernando has predicted that the impact will dig out a crater measuring roughly 90 feet (27 meters) wide and 16 feet (5 meters) deep.
Visibility: The eastern portions of the US and Canada, and parts of South America should have the best views, AP reported.
The visual: The brief initial flash could last under a second. It will likely be too dim to detect. However, the collision will create a massive plume of dust. But the stream of ejected material could stretch for several kilometers into space and remain visible for several minutes to telescopes.
“The gravity on the moon is low and there is no wind to blow the dust away,” said Fernando.
“Part of the reason for our interest in this event is to figure out how much of a hazard debris impacts pose to future astronauts,” he added.
This will not be the first time a dead rocket will accidentally smash into the Moon.
This incident will mark only the second known time a dead rocket has accidentally crashed into the lunar surface, following an impact by a Chinese rocket component that excavated two craters on the lunar far side in 2022.
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What other experts say
Scientists are not too concerned about this event or the abandoned rocket segment. However, Bill Gray said, "Things are getting crowded up there.” Meanwhile, scientists said there are many things to observe and learn from the event that is coming up, as per the AP report.
Notably, NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and South Korea’s Danuri lunar orbiter will gather before-and-after shots of the collision.
