The upper stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket has unintentionally crashed into the Moon and is expected to leave a new crater on its surface.
Observations made by researchers at the Very Large Telescope in Chile confirmed that the impact occurred, and a plume was detected via its chemical fingerprint.
Falcon 9 rockets use a two-stage design – the first stage, known as the booster is capable of returning back to Earth and landing vertically for reuse. But the second stage normally accelerates the payload to its target orbit after which it is discarded, eventually returning to Earth and often burning up during re-entry.
This particular Falcon 9 upper stage, however, was discarded in a location where it was unable to re-enter the atmosphere. It is believed to be part of a rocket launch from January 2025, when a Falcon 9 delivered two lunar landers to the surface of the Moon. While the main stage itself returned to Earth, the upper stage ended up on a collision course with the Moon.
“This event...