Brief by Shorts91 Newsdesk / 06:14am on 06 Aug 2026,Thursday Science
A discarded second stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket has crashed into the Moon, creating a new crater near the Einstein Crater. The 4-tonne rocket stage, launched in early 2025, struck the lunar surface at about 8,700 km/h after its orbit was gradually altered by the gravitational pull of the Sun, Earth and Moon. NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and South Korea's Danuri spacecraft will study the impact site to better understand crater formation and lunar dust. The collision is only the second known case of accidental rocket debris striking the Moon.
