© Mike Petrucci via Unsplash
A used upper stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 crashed into the Moon on Wednesday morning. This impact is not considered dangerous, but it may offer scientists a rare opportunity to study an impact on the Moon.
The object that struck the Moon is as large as a five-story building and weighs about 4,000 kg. The impact adds to a growing problem: there are now about 3,000 human-made objects on the Moon, with a total weight of about 190 metric tons.
These human-made objects do raise concerns about protecting historic Apollo sites, preserving pristine lunar soil, and reducing collision risks for future missions.
The rocket stage had been drifting for about 18 months after launching two lunar landers from Florida in January of last year, before gravity and sunlight gradually set it on a collision course.
Experts say the impact will likely be visible only with powerful telescopes, not to the naked eye. The moment of impact was not recorded by any spacecraft in lunar orbit. Scientists will now analyze photos of the lunar surface taken before and after the impact, looking for the new crater left behind by the impact. The analysis of the images may take several days, according to researchers quoted in British media.
This is already the second spacecraft to crash on the Moon: in 2022, a component of a Chinese rocket created two craters on the far side of the Moon.
The new incident underscores how busy space around the Moon is becoming as activity there increases.