Abandoned SpaceX rocket impact with the Moon expected on August 5
An upper stage of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket is expected to collide with the Moon on August 5, after having remained traveling through space. The launch of the Falcon 9 took place on January 15, 2025, departing from the Kennedy Space Center, in Florida, carrying with it the American Blue Ghost-1 and the Japanese Resilience lunar probes.
The collision, which will reach a speed of around 8,700 km/h, is expected to occur near the Einstein crater, located on the western portion of the visible side of the Moon. Scientific research, conducted by experts from the University of Texas, details that the impact will generate an extensive cloud of dust and debris, which could reach 183 kilometers wide and up to 20 kilometers in altitude.
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More on this story: Inactive stage of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket will collide with the Moon and open a new crater
Researchers point out that the cloud formed will be “potentially visible” from Earth, although its clarity cannot yet be fully confirmed. The disintegration of Falcon 9 will result in a brief flash, lasting approximately one second. A week after the collision, NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter probe will fly over the area to record images.
The energy released at the moment of impact will be equivalent to the explosion of 3 tons of dynamite and is expected to excavate a crater 27 meters long and 5 meters deep on the lunar surface. SpaceX had the ability to modify the Falcon 9’s trajectory to avoid this event, but chose not to make the change.
The Falcon 9 is considered the second rocket to unintentionally impact the Moon. The first incident would have involved China’s Chang’e 5-T1, launched in October 2014. Supposedly, the third stage of this rocket impacted the lunar soil in 2022, although China refuted the information, declaring that the rocket’s fragments re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere, where they were consumed.
