Falcon 9 Upper Stage Crashes Into the Moon in Rare Lunar Impact

A spent SpaceX Falcon 9 upper stage impacted the Moon on August 5, 2026, near Einstein Crater after more than a year in cislunar space. Traveling at roughly 5,400 mph (8,690 km/h), the four-ton stage created a new lunar crater and generated a plume containing sodium and lithium that was detected by the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope. No spacecraft or telescope captured a direct video of the actual impact, although scientists confirmed the collision through spectroscopic observations.

Further Reading

• NASA – Moon Exploration
• NASA – Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO)
• European Southern Observatory (ESO) – Latest News
• ESO – Very Large Telescope (VLT)

Note: There is no official video of the Falcon 9 impact itself. Reports circulating on social media claiming to show the impact are AI-generated or CGI. The event has only been confirmed through scientific observations, not direct footage.