A SpaceX spacecraft that carried two lunar landers crashed into the moon as anticipated on Wednesday after veering off its course over the past year, according to scientists. While the actual collision at a speed of 8,700 km/h was not directly observed, astronomers identified a debris plume resulting from the impact via a telescope in Chile. Experts in space tracking confirmed the expected collision of the remaining rocket segment with the moon.
This incident highlights the growing issue of space debris on the moon, especially as the United States and China compete to send astronauts to the lunar surface. Previously, in 2022, a Chinese rocket unintentionally struck the moon during a lunar mission, and numerous stray rocket components likely hit the moon unnoticed by scientists in past decades.
Julianna Scheiman from SpaceX stated that the company is collaborating with NASA to prevent future collisions, emphasizing that this particular crash was accidental. She explained that a combination of solar activity and gravitational forces inadvertently led to the spacecraft’s collision with the moon.
Boston University’s Carl Schmidt expressed absolute certainty that his team’s observations revealed evidence of the lunar impact. The European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope detected a sodium and lithium stream extending tens of kilometers into space for several minutes post-impact.
Prior to the telescope’s identification of the debris plume in Chile, retired astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell noted that observations of the defunct four-ton upper stage the night before indicated its direct path toward the moon. The expected crash site was a desolate area near the Einstein Crater on the sunlit western edge of the moon, a challenging region to observe from Earth.
Witnessing the dust and rock plume or the impact flash from the ground was deemed nearly impossible, leaving orbiting spacecraft as the best hope for observation. Dutch scientist Marco Langbroek attempted to view the event through his telescope but did not succeed, acknowledging the slim chances of success.
Confirmation of the impact will likely come from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which is expected to fly over the crash site and transmit images of the impact crater next week. The Falcon rocket’s upper stage, measuring over 12 meters long, launched two private lunar landers from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on January 15, 2025. Following the incident, one lander, Resilience, failed while the other, Blue Ghost, successfully landed, marking a milestone as the first private spacecraft to do so.
The moon has become a prominent destination in space exploration, with NASA planning a series of robotic missions to establish a sustainable lunar base. Private companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin are set to provide lunar landers for NASA’s Artemis program. As progress continues, a lunar landing by astronauts, the first since NASA’s Apollo missions, could occur as early as 2028.
McDowell emphasized the need for responsible space activities near the moon, particularly as human presence and missions increase in the area.