Piece of SpaceX rocket the size of a school bus crashes into the Moon

Scientists will track stray rocket parts striking the Moon to study crater formation and lunar dust from cosmic impacts.Published On 5 Aug 20265 Aug 2026A four-tonne chunk of debris the size of a school bus from a SpaceX rocket has crashed into the Moon, according to tracking data, creating a new crater on the lunar surface and providing scientists a rare look at high-velocity cosmic impacts.The object, the second stage of a Falcon 9 rocket launched in early 2025, struck the Moon early Wednesday near the Einstein Crater, at approximately 8,700 kilometres per hour (5,400 miles per hour), according to orbital trajectories mapped by independent astronomers and confirmed by space-tracking agencies. It struck the lunar surface with the force of roughly three tonnes of TNT.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Elon Musk’s SpaceX reports losses but less than expectedlist 2 of 3NASA announces astronauts for Artemis III spaceflight, scheduled for 2027list 3 of 3Tanks, troops and spaceend of listSuch rocket hardware typically re-enters Earth’s atmosphere to burn up or splash down into remote ocean zones after delivering payloads into orbit.But over 18 months, gravitational forces exe...