{"id":844166,"date":"2026-08-05T08:04:15","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T08:04:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/844166\/"},"modified":"2026-08-05T08:04:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T08:04:15","slug":"spacex-rocket-to-slam-into-the-moon-after-months-drifting-through-space","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/844166\/","title":{"rendered":"SpaceX rocket to slam into the moon after months drifting through space"},"content":{"rendered":"

Part of a SpaceX<\/a> rocket is set to crash into the moon on Wednesday in a rare event that scientists say they are watching closely.<\/p>\n

The top section of the Falcon 9 rocket is expected to make contact at around 5.35pm AEST, after drifting through space<\/a> for more than a year.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Scientists are on standby to watch the Falcon 9 crash in the hopes of learning more about the moon.\u00a0AP<\/p>\n

NASA confirmed the crash poses zero danger to Earth<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Scientists are on standby to monitor the impact in the hopes of learning how space crashes alter the moon\u2019s surface.<\/p>\n

The Falcon 9 originally launched in January 2025 to send two commercial landers toward the moon, with the leftover rocket hull left floating in deep space.<\/p>\n

SpaceX director Julianna Scheiman said the company followed standard rules after the launch, but a combination of gravity and solar energy pushed the lingering rocket piece toward the moon.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor high-energy missions, we need to perform a different manoeuvre to ensure the second stage itself is safe per the appropriate rules and regulations,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket arcing over the sky after liftoff in 2025. \u00a0nna\\KCampbell<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did that here for the Ispace and Blue Ghost missions\u2019 second stage, and what has happened is essentially a mixture of solar activity and gravity forces have put it on a path towards the moon.\u201d<\/p>\n

Independent astronomers first spotted the collision course using public tracking data, which NASA later confirmed.<\/p>\n

Researchers estimate the rocket stage will hit the moon at about 8750 km\/h, leaving a crater between 20 and 30 meters wide.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While the impact itself will last only a second, scientists hope telescopes will capture the cloud of debris thrown into space.<\/p>\n

The collision will not be visible to the naked eye, and there will be no public livestream. However, NASA teams are expected to photograph the aftermath.<\/p>\n

Professor of astronomy and physics at Western University in Canada<\/a> Dr. Paul Wiegert said tracking the crash will be critical as space agencies prepare for long-term human missions.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat happens when an object crashes into the moon? We know it makes a crater, and of course it does eject material, but we don\u2019t really understand that process in great detail,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd now that we have more spacecraft, and soon to have astronauts on the moon, we really want to understand that process better.\u201d<\/p>\n

SpaceX says it is already working alongside NASA and other space agencies to refine disposal methods for future deep-space missions.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a scientist, I also am very excited to see the observation,\u201d Scheiman said.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cBut it\u2019s one of the things that we\u2019re working in partnership with NASA and the other appropriate agencies: What is the best future disposal path for high-energy missions that are in the sun-Earth-moon system?\u201d<\/p>\n

– CNN<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Part of a SpaceX rocket is set to crash into the moon on Wednesday in a rare event…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":844167,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[64,63,128],"class_list":["post-844166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-science","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/844166","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=844166"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/844166\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/844167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=844166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=844166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=844166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}