The school-bus-size object is the second stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that had launched a lunar lander from Firefly Aerospace towards the moon in January 2025. Its predicted collision with the moon became a spectacle for astronomers and space enthusiasts eager to watch how it would unfold. Weighing four tonnes (4,000kg), the rocket body slammed into the moon around 2.35am ET,, travelling at 8,690km/h (5,400 mph). None of the few spacecraft orbiting the moon were positioned to capture close-up images of the impact. Nasa’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter map shows the predicted impact site for a Falcon 9 rocket part, expected to strike the moon on Wednesday, and the locations of other moon landers.