SpaceX rocket debris is expected to strike the moon in five days, drawing attention from the space science community. The impact involves the second stage of a Falcon 9 rocket that launched two lunar landers in January and has been drifting in space ever since.[1][2]
According to space-tracking expert Bill Gray, the debris has entered a collision course and is expected to hit near Einstein crater on the moon’s western edge at about 8,700 kilometers per hour. Experts estimate the impact will have the explosive force of about 3 tons of TNT.[2][3][4]
The collision is expected to create a new crater about 27 meters wide and roughly 5 meters deep, along with a large cloud of dust and debris. The flash from impact would last less than a second and be difficult to see with the naked eye from Earth, but telescopes may be able to observe the rising debris plume for tens of minutes.[2][4][5]
NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and South Korea’s Danuri lunar orbiter are expected to collect photo data and record the scene before and after the impact. The event is also renewing concerns about the growing problem of unchecked space debris as private companies expand deeper into space.[1][2]
