Out-of-Control Rocket Set to Crash into the Moon
This time, space debris has set its sights on the Moon. The upper stage of a Falcon 9 rocket, launched at the beginning of 2025, spiraled out of control and entered an orbit to collide with the lunar surface at a staggering speed of 8,700 kilometers per hour.
In January 2025, the upper stage of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, measuring 13.8 meters in length and tasked with transporting lunar landers belonging to Firefly and ispace, was left aimlessly drifting in space after it had completed its mission (2025-010D).
Astronomers have announced that a massive hunk of metal they've been tracking for about a year is set to crash into the near side of the Moon on August 5th.
According to a report published by Bill Gray, the creator of Project Pluto, the collision is expected to occur on August 5th, Eastern Time Zone. The rocket body, weighing approximately 4 tons, is predicted to land near the Einstein Crater on the Moon's western edge.
Speed: 2.43 km per second (seven times the speed of sound).
Impact: Due to the lack of atmosphere, the rocket will strike the surface directly, creating a small new crater.
Although the crash site will receive sunlight, experts suggest that it will be quite challenging to observe this event from Earth with amateur telescopes.
Scientist Bill Gray does not anticipate this event causing any harm to any spacecraft or equipment on the Moon.
However, Gray characterizes this situation as an indicator of negligence in space transportation:
'You can launch an upper stage into high orbit today, but in a few years, when people start wandering around the Moon, this could turn into a real safety risk.'
At present, the rocket crashing into the Moon, which is currently a "dead world," poses no threat.
However, the plans of NASA and China to establish bases at the South Pole signify a tenfold increase in lunar traffic. Experts are emphasizing that it should now become standard procedure for launch companies to allocate enough fuel to send these rocket parts into 'disposal orbits' around the Sun.
This Isn't the First Time
In the past, it was predicted that similar objects would collide with the Moon; a collision that occurred in 2022 was initially attributed to SpaceX, and subsequent analysis determined it belonged to China's Chang'e 5T1 mission. However, astronomers are quite certain about the identity of this object this time around: this piece, which has been observed more than 1050 times since its launch, is undoubtedly a remnant of a Falcon 9.
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