A discarded SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket stage hit the moon late on Tuesday, creating a fresh impact crater and adding to the growing amount of human-made debris scattered across the lunar surface. JAXA/NHKA discarded SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket stage hit the moon early on Wednesday, creating a fresh impact crater and adding to the growing amount of human-made debris scattered across the lunar surface. The SpaceX rocket crashed at 5,400 miles (8,700 kilometers) per hour, at approximately 2:35 a.m. EDT on Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026. After completing its mission, the rocket stage remained in space rather than returning to Earth’s atmosphere. In 2009, NASA’s LCROSS mission deployed the upper stage of a Centaur rocket to intentionally impact the Moon before crashing into the lunar surface itself.