Piece of SpaceX rocket the size of a school bus crashes into the Moon

A substantial piece of rocket debris from SpaceX has impacted the lunar surface, providing scientists with an opportunity to study high-velocity cosmic impacts and crater formation. The object, weighing approximately four tonnes and comparable in size to a school bus, was the second stage of a Falcon 9 rocket launched in early 2025. It struck the Moon near the Einstein Crater at a velocity of roughly 8,700 kilometres per hour, delivering impact energy equivalent to approximately three tonnes of TNT. Typically, such rocket hardware either burns up during reentry into Earth's atmosphere or falls into remote ocean regions after completing its mission. However, over an 18-month period, combined gravitational influences from the Sun, Earth, and Moon gradually shifted the object's trajectory toward an inevitable lunar collision. SpaceX acknowledged that while the crash was unintentional, the vehicle's limited remaining fuel made the impact unavoidable. A SpaceX official explained that solar activity and gravitational forces combined to place the debris on a collision course with the Moon. Multiple space agencies and independent astronomers have confirmed the impact through orbital tracking data. NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and South Korea's Danuri spacecraft have repositioned their instruments to document the collision site and capture imagery of the newly formed crater and ejected material. Space tracking specialists have noted that while the incident poses no immediate danger, it underscores concerns about the accumulating volume of discarded space hardware in orbit. This marks only the second confirmed instance of unintended rocket debris accidentally striking the Moon, following a 2022 impact involving a Chinese Long March 3C rocket component.