Scientists said the SpaceX rocket that was expected to hit the moon has done so.
At least the experts think it did, as they didn’t see the collision that happened at 5,400 mph, The Associated Press reported. A telescope in Chile was able to see what astronomers said was the debris plume left from the crash.
Boston University’s Carl Schmidt told the AP he’s “100% certain” that his team saw signs of the crash, but “We don’t have images of the impact.”
The anticipated site was an area near the Einstein Crater on the moon’s western limb, near the edge of the near and far sides of the moon and difficult to see from Earth. Images from the area are expected in about a week when NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter flies over the area and sends back photos.
“There’s no doubt in my mind” the rocket “is now in teeny, little pieces scattered over the moon near the Einstein Crater, astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell told the AP.
The upper stage was a leftover rocket segment from a Falcon 9 mission that had been drifting off course for a year.
It was about the size of a five-story building, and was about 8,800 pounds, the BBC reported.
The AP called it lunar litter, which could affect the race to return to the moon. A Chinese rocket hit the moon in 2022 after a mission. Several other pieces of rockets are expected to have hit the moon as well without scientists knowing about them.
The BBC said there are about 3,000 human-made objects on the surface of the moon.
“It could feasibly be, within a few decades, hard to get past Earth’s orbit because space is so crowded,” astronomer Matt Bothwell told the BBC.
SpaceX’s Julianna Scheiman said the crash into the moon Wednesday was not deliberate, but that it was caused by solar activity and gravity, calling it an accidental collision course.
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