What to know as Elon Musk’s SpaceX rocket crashes into moon, Wednesday

A piece of a SpaceX rocket built by Elon Musk's company is expected to crash into the moon on Wednesday after drifting through space for more than a year. The rocket's upper stage was launched in January 2025 aboard a Falcon 9 mission that carried two lunar landers and scientific instruments to the moon. After completing its mission, the 45-foot section was left in space and was later pulled into the moon's orbit. The 4,900kg rocket debris is expected to hit the moon at about 7:35 a.m. at a speed of around 5,400mph, roughly seven times the speed of sound. Space expert Bill Gray, who developed the Project Pluto software used to track objects in space, said the impact would release energy equal to about three tonnes of TNT. According to him, the collision could create a crater measuring about 17 metres across. "It doesn't present any danger to anyone," Gray said. "Though it does highlight a certain carelessness about how leftover space hardware (space junk) is disposed of." The impact is expected to happen on the sunlit side of the moon that faces Earth. According to the Associated Press, SpaceX did not intend for the rocket stage to hit the moon. The company has not publicly commented on the incident. Will the moon be damaged? Scientists say there is no reason for concern. The moon is already covered with thousands of craters created by asteroids and other space rocks over billions of years. Unlike Earth, it has no atmosphere or active tectonic plates to erase those marks. Astronomer Dr Ed Bloomer of the Royal Observatory Greenwich said the impact would not cause any serious damage. "In fact, it will likely go unnoticed in the UK," Dr Bloomer said. "While the rocket part colliding with the lunar surface is quite a large piece of kit, and it is moving at a fairly impressive speed, it is certainly not going to cause any problems. "After all, the moon is pretty large and desolate, and we know precisely where and when the collision will occur." ALSO READ: Nigeria had 4 million more births than entire European Union in 2025 — Elon Musk Can people see the crash? Experts say the collision will be difficult to observe from Earth. Gray said even powerful telescopes may struggle to capture the actual impact because it will happen near the moon's edge, known as the lunar limb. Observers with sensitive telescopes may be able to spot a cloud of dust thrown up by the collision. The dust plume could remain visible for around 10 minutes. A brief flash of light caused by the impact may also be seen, although Gray believes it will be very faint. People in eastern parts of the United States, Canada and much of South America are expected to have the best chance of seeing the event. Dr Bloomer said skywatchers may later notice a new crater near the Einstein Crater on the moon. "Afterwards, the moon will have a quite small new crater!" he said. NASA project scientist Brent Garry said the agency's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter is expected to fly over the impact site shortly after the collision. "We can do some additional targeting about a week after the impact and get some targeting over where the site is," he said. What is space junk? The rocket stage is an example of what experts call space junk. Dean Sladen, an aerospace engineer at Accu Components, explained: "Space junk is any human-made object in orbit, or falling back to Earth, that no longer serves a purpose." As more satellites and rockets are launched into space, scientists say tracking and safely disposing of space debris is becoming increasingly important.