(NewsNation) — A SpaceX rocket is on a high-speed collision course with the lunar surface, and it could provide NASA with some key data for its future lunar base. "This is one small crash for SpaceX, potentially one giant leap for lunar science," former NASA Associate Administrator Mike Gold told NewsNation's Hena Doba on Sunday. It is expected to strike the lunar surface with a force equivalent to three tons of TNT. "This is a wonderful opportunity for citizen science," noted Gold, as the crash will happen on the side that faces Earth. This isn't the first time a dead rocket has hit the lunar surface.