One of Elon Musk’s discarded SpaceX rockets, Fall on 9 has crashed into the moon’s surface at 5,400 miles per hour (8,690 km/h) in rare collision.
The high-speed SpaceX is the upper stage of a Falcon 9 rocket, which weighs 4,500kg and measures 39ft long (12m), about the size of a five–story building.
The rocket impact struck near Einstein Crater, on the moon’s western edge facing Earth on Wednesday after drifting through space for months.
Scientists estimate that its impact produced a blast equivalent to 15,000 sticks of dynamite, or three tonnes of TNT.
According to BBC, that should produce a flash big enough to see from Earth using a telescope, but not with the naked eye.
Due to the lack of wind and low gravity, the impact will also launch a cloud of dust and debris that will linger for tens of minutes.
Scientists and space agencies were carefully watching as the rocket approached, but we are still waiting to see if any pictures of the crash were captured.
Astronomers expect that the impact will carve a crater into the lunar surface roughly 27m across and five metres deep.
