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What just happened? The discarded upper stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that launched a pair of lunar landers in January 2025 crashed into the Moon at 5,400 mph on Wednesday, striking the lunar surface near the Einstein Crater after drifting through space for more than a year. NASA believes the impact occurred at around 2:35 a.m. Eastern Time, creating a new crater on the Moon's surface.
Scientists originally believed that the impact would be visible from most regions around the world, but space enthusiasts were unable to see anything, even when using purpose-built telescopes. While the tiny flash produced by the impact would have been far too faint to see in broad daylight, amateur astronomers documenting the event in darkness also failed to spot it.
NASA is believed to have captured photographs of the impact, but it could take several days for the images to be processed, analyzed, and released publicly. A spacecraft orbiting the Moon is also expected to send back images of the impact site in the coming days, offering an idea of the damage it caused to the lunar surface.
