Skip to main content

SpaceX rocket set to slam into the moon at 5,000 mph

While SpaceX has nailed the process of landing the first stage of its Falcon 9 rocket back on terra firma, the second stage is left to burn up in the atmosphere as it falls back to Earth. At least, that’s what usually happens.

A mission launched by SpaceX in 2015 to send the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Deep Space Climate Observatory into a distant orbit completed all of the necessary deployment steps, but then it went a bit awry, according to an Ars Technica report.

A lack of fuel prevented the second-stage booster from reaching Earth’s atmosphere, causing it to tumble through space in a chaotic orbit. But its erratic seven-year voyage looks set to end abruptly in early March when the 4-ton booster slams into the moon at 5,000 mph.

After crunching all of the available data, sky-watcher Bill Gray, who also develops software that tracks near-Earth objects, has concluded that the Falcon 9’s out-of-control second stage will impact the lunar surface on March 4, most likely on the far side.

Commenting on the accuracy of the predicted impact date, Gray wrote on his website: “If this were a rock, I’d be 100% certain … But space junk can be a little tricky.”

He added: “I have a fairly complete mathematical model of what the Earth, moon, sun, and planets are doing and how their gravity is affecting the object. I have a rough idea of how much sunlight is pushing outward on the object, gently pushing it away from the sun. This usually enables me to make predictions with a good bit of confidence.”

Gray said he’s hoping to calculate the impact location as precisely as possible in the hope that NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and India’s Chandrayaan-2 lunar orbiter will be able to photograph the crash site for further study.

The event will mark the first time for a man-made object to unintentionally crash onto the lunar surface. A deliberate impact took place in 2009 when a NASA Centaur rocket and accompanying probe were sent hurtling toward the moon in a mission aimed at locating water on Earth’s nearest neighbor.

SpaceX is currently developing landing hardware for NASA’s upcoming Artemis missions that will see the first crewed lunar landing in five decades. However, next month’s collision means a piece of SpaceX kit will be arriving at the moon rather earlier than expected.

Editors' Recommendations

Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
SpaceX’s mighty Starship rocket stacked for 3rd test flight
SpaceX's Starship spacecraft stacked atop the Super Heavy booster ahead of its third test flight.

SpaceX's Starship spacecraft stacked atop the Super Heavy booster ahead of its third test flight. SpaceX

SpaceX has stacked the Starship rocket in preparation for its third test flight.

Read more
How to watch homecoming SpaceX astronauts fly overhead on Tuesday
SpaceX's Crew-6 reentering Earth's atmosphere.

SpaceX’s Crew-7 astronauts undocked from the International Space Station (ISS) at 11:20 a.m. ET on Monday after a six-and-a-half-month stay aboard the orbital outpost.

NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Andreas Mogensen, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov are expected to splash down in the Gulf of Mexico at around 5:50 a.m. ET on Tuesday morning. If the skies are clear, folks in more than a dozen states will be able to witness the crew’s homecoming as the capsule flies overhead.

Read more
How to watch SpaceX Crew-7 return to Earth this week
SpaceX Crew-7 aboard the Crew Dragon spacecraft at the start of their mission in August 2023.

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7 Re-entry and Splashdown

SpaceX’s Crew-7 is preparing to depart the International Space Station (ISS) after a six-and-a-half-month stay aboard the orbital outpost some 250 miles above Earth. NASA will live-stream all of the key moments of the homecoming (full details below).

Read more