RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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0 Share Newsweek is a Trust Project member See more of our trusted coverage when you search. Prefer Newsweek on Google to see more of our trusted coverage when you search. A piece of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that has been drifting through space since a January 2025 launch is believed to have collided with the Moon on Wednesday, striking the lunar surface at about 5,400 mph.
The rocket stage was originally used to send two private lunar landers toward the Moon before being left in a long-term orbit that was later altered by gravitational forces and solar activity.
While a rocket impact on the Moon may sound dramatic, scientists do not expect the collision to cause any major changes to the lunar surface. NASA estimates the impact will likely leave a crater about 60 feet wide and 12 feet deep, while ejecting a plume of lunar dust and rock into the surrounding area. The collision poses no threat to Earth and is not expected to have any meaningful effect on the Moon as a whole.
NASA plans to collect data from the impact and search for evidence of the newly formed crater and any material ejected from the collision.
The agency has said observations of impacts can help scientists understand how lunar dust and debris behave, provide insights into the Moon's geology and improve models used for future exploration missions.
The scientific interest has echoes of the Apollo era, when NASA deliberately crashed items into the Moon after completing their missions.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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