What scientists can learn from the SpaceX rocket stage crashing into the Moon

The spent second stage of the Falcon 9 rocket was supposed to crash onto the Moon. It had a mass of about four tons and hit the surface at a speed of approximately 8.7 thousand kilometers per hour. This stage remained after the rocket's launch last January, when Falcon 9 launched two lunar probes into space.

After completing its primary mission, the stage traveled for a long time on an elongated orbit around the Earth and the Moon. Its trajectory was influenced by the gravity of Earth, the Moon, the Sun, as well as solar wind. In spring, astronomers calculated that as a result of these changes, it would eventually collide with the Moon's surface.

Observing the exact moment of impact was very difficult. Amateur telescopes, most likely, could not record the brief flash that occurred on the Sun-lit part of the Moon. It was also difficult to see the dust cloud, which, according to calculations, could have risen approximately 100 kilometers and lasted for several minutes.

Some spacecraft in lunar orbit also could not capture the moment of impact itself. For example, the South Korean probe Danuri flew over the impact site shortly before the event, and scientists are still analyzing the images it obtained.

A few days later, the American lunar spacecraft Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter is expected to pass over the impact site. Researchers will be able to compare images of the surface before and after the impact and determine the size of the resulting crater.

For scientists, this is a particularly valuable event, as they know the main parameters of the experiment in advance: the size and mass of the object, its speed, and the collision location. This will allow them to test models of how craters are formed on the Moon, how fragments disperse, and how shock waves propagate within the satellite.

The data obtained can also have practical significance. Understanding how much dust and rocks are raised after impact, how far they scatter, and how much the surface shakes will help engineers in designing future landers and lunar bases.

Furthermore, studying rocks ejected from the depths can provide new information about the Moon's geology and the formation history of the Earth-Moon system, which is about 4.5 billion years old.

This is not the first instance of human-made objects falling onto the Moon. In 1959, the Soviet station 'Luna-2' became the first such object. After that, dozens of spacecraft fell onto the Moon's surface — some intentionally, others accidentally.

In 2009, NASA intentionally directed the LCROSS probe to the Moon's surface to search for frozen water. The last confirmed accidental crash occurred in 2022, when, presumably, the upper stage of a Chinese lunar station, launched back in 2014, impacted the Moon.

The Falcon 9 stage's impact also reminded scientists about the problem of space debris, which has been accumulating near Earth and other celestial bodies for almost 70 years.

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