Spacex Rocket Debris to Collide With the Moon at High Speed

WHO:

NPR - Bill Gray, a scientist who develops software that tracks objects in space.

NPR - Brent Garry, a project scientist for the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

Yahoo - Benjamin Fernando, a postdoctoral fellow and researcher at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

WHAT:

NPR - A piece of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is expected to slam into the moon.

NPR - The piece is expected to hit the moon at more than 5,000 miles per hour.

Yahoo - The upper stage of the SpaceX rocket is estimated to hit the moon at 5,400 mph, which is seven times the speed of sound.

NPR - The impact could leave a crater at least 17 meters in diameter.

Yahoo - The impact is expected to deliver energy equivalent to about three tons of TNT.

WHERE:

NPR - The impact is expected to occur on the sunlit side of the moon, near the Einstein Crater.

Yahoo - NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and South Korea's Danuri lunar orbiter will observe the impact site.

WHEN:

NPR - The piece is expected to hit the moon around 2:35 a.m. ET on a Wednesday.

WHY:

NPR - SpaceX did not intend for the defunct piece to hit the moon.

Yahoo - Researchers are interested in the impact to understand how debris impacts pose a hazard to future astronauts.

HOW:

NPR - NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter will pass over the region before and after the impact to observe changes to the surface.

Yahoo - The Danuri lunar orbiter will fly close to the SpaceX rocket a few minutes before the impact.

(UPDATED August 3, 2026 05:38 UTC)

A piece of a defunct SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is expected to slam into the moon at around 2:35 a.m. ET on a Wednesday, hitting at an astonishing speed of 5,400 miles per hour, which is seven times the speed of sound. The impact, anticipated to occur on the sunlit side of the moon near the Einstein Crater, could create a crater at least 17 meters in diameter and deliver energy equivalent to about three tons of TNT. NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and South Korea's Danuri lunar orbiter will be on hand to observe the site before and after the collision, as researchers aim to understand the hazards posed by space debris to future astronauts.