A Discarded SpaceX Rocket Is Set To Slam Into Moon At Over 5,000 MPH—And The Internet Is Sounding Off

Add "crashing into the moon" to the ever-growing list of Elon Musk headlines.

This time, the former trillionaire's space company is making news after a discarded rocket stage was sent hurtling toward the moon, where it's expected to slam into the lunar surface at more than seven times the speed of sound and leave behind a brand-new crater.

Space tracking expert Bill Gray estimates the impact will happen at roughly 5,400 mph (8,700 kph) near the moon's Einstein Crater. The predawn collision could be visible across parts of the eastern U.S., Canada, and much of South America for anyone willing to set an alarm.

Scientists aren't losing sleep over this particular piece of space junk. What concerns them, however, is the growing traffic jam in orbit as more abandoned rockets, satellites, and debris continue to pile up overhead.

Gray, who plans to watch the aftermath from New Brunswick, Canada, summed it up simply:

"Things are getting crowded up there."

He wasn't exaggerating. More than 200 tons of human-made clutter already sit on the moon, including abandoned spacecraft, lunar rovers, scientific equipment, six American flags, Alan Shepard's golf balls, family photos, and, perhaps most famously, about 96 bags of astronaut urine, feces, and vomit left behind to make room for moon rocks. Humans have been littering the moon for decades.

The latest collision wasn't intentional, but experts say it likely could have been avoided if the rocket's upper stage had been nudged into orbit around the sun instead of left drifting through space. It also won't be the first accidental lunar impact. In 2022, a discarded Chinese rocket stage punched a pair of craters into the moon's far side.

This time, however, astronomers have a much better view. The impact will strike the moon's near side with the force of roughly three tons of TNT, giving researchers a rare opportunity to study the aftermath in real time.

Benjamin Fernando of Los Alamos National Laboratory hopes both scientists and backyard astronomers will help document the impact:

“Part of the reason for our interest in this event is to figure out how much of a hazard debris impacts pose to future astronauts.”

Fernando expects the crash to leave a crater roughly 90 feet across and 16 feet deep. That's too small to spot from Earth but easily visible from orbit.

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and South Korea's Danuri lunar orbiter are both preparing to capture before-and-after images of the impact. Danuri will even pass within a couple of miles of the rogue rocket just two minutes before it crashes into the moon.

Retired astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell warned that future missions may not be so lucky:

"This impact will not be a problem. But in a future where there are long-term bases on the moon, similar impacts would be an issue, and we need not to leave rocket stages in chaotic orbits of this kind."

Crashing a rocket into the moon might make for an incredible headline, but the internet wasn't interested in dunking on Elon Musk alone. From Reddit to X, social media’s self-proclaimed space nerds and aspiring astronauts quickly turned the comments into Astronomy 101, explaining why the collision happened, why it wasn't intentional, and why the moon isn't in any real danger.

Here's how the internet processed the news:

u/handsoapdispenser/Reddit

u/aseiden/Reddit

u/Good_wolf/Reddit

u/SpaceC0wboyX/Reddit

u/MassiveTomorrow2978/Reddit

u/Lackluster_Compote/Reddit

Meanwhile, SpaceX isn't slowing down. The company is pressing ahead with Starship, the massive next-generation rocket Musk envisions for future missions to the moon and, eventually, Mars. According to SpaceX, Starship will be "the world's most powerful launch vehicle ever developed" and is designed to carry more than 100 metric tons to orbit.

Musk has also pitched ambitious ideas ranging from putting AI data centers in space to building a self-sustaining city on Mars. Speaking to The Economist, he said maintaining control of SpaceX allows him to stay focused on goals that may take five to 10 years to achieve rather than chasing short-term expectations.

Here's hoping the company's next trip to the moon ends with a landing instead of an accidental crater.