A SpaceX rocket hit the Moon. Here's what to know.
A piece of a SpaceX rocket traveling more than 8,000 km/h crashed into the Moon early Wednesday morning. The Very Large Telescope at the European Southern Observatory in Chile detected the impact.
Detection and observations
"We can confirm that the telescope detected spectral lines of sodium and lithium gas in the impact plume, for 5 to 10 minutes after impact," said Bárbara Ferreira (ESO). "The sodium likely came from the lunar soil, while the lithium may have come from the rocket itself."
Dr. Benjamin Fernando (Los Alamos) confirmed the detection using the UVES spectrograph. Carl Schmidt (Boston) said the impact occurred near Einstein Crater around 2:35 a.m. local time.
Danuri and imagery
South Korea's Danuri lunar orbiter observed the upper stage before and just after impact. The Korea Aerospace Administration (KASA) shared images on social media. Danuri's cameras captured before/after views.
Why the rocket hit the Moon
The Falcon 9 launched on January 15, 2025 with two commercial lunar landers. The upper stage, after propelling the landers, remained in space. Julianna Scheiman (SpaceX): "For high-energy missions, we perform a specific maneuver. Here, a combination of solar activity and gravitational forces put it on a lunar trajectory."
"Impacts like this are rare, but they can happen with objects in these types of orbits" — SpaceX.
Consequences
The impact poses no danger to Earth. It may create a crater 20 to 30 meters in diameter. The impact was not visible to the naked eye from Earth.
Why it matters
This rare event helps scientists learn more about the Moon and prepare for protecting future astronauts and infrastructure. The Artemis program aims for a sustained human presence on the Moon, and managing debris in lunar orbit is becoming a key issue.
Dr. Paul Wiegert (Western University): "We want to understand these processes so we can eliminate that risk." The study will be published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
Next steps
NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter will try to survey the impact site in the coming days. Danuri's data will be released after analysis. Independent astronomers had predicted the collision using publicly available data.
"NASA will continue to track the booster for training purposes, and later observe the impact site for scientific purposes."
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