Hi Spacecats, I’m Dr Maggie Lieu and welcome to my channel, where you can find all things space, astronomy and physics! An upper stage of Spacex’s falcon 9 is expected to crash into the moon on 5th August 2026 at approximately 06:34 UTC. Will we actually be able to see it and why are we so excited with this being the “space junk” we all despise?
Links:
Fernando et al 2026: https://arxiv.org/abs/2607.14625
Cambell et al 2023: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/PSJ/acffb8/meta
https://www.projectpluto.com/25010d.htm
Media credits:
Blue ghost 1 – Firefly
Hakuto-R – ispace
Trajectory: Kayhan space satcat
Chang’e 5 impact crater: Campbell et al. 2023 https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/PSJ/acffb8?utm_source=badastronomy.beehiiv.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=6-000-exoplanets-a-chinese-rocket-whacked-the-moon
double crater: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
Falcon 9 upper stage: spacex
Korean Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO): Ministry of Science and ICT 과학기술정보통신부
LRO: NASA/GSFC
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