⚡️Aerospace Brief⚡️A discarded SpaceX Falcon 9 upper stage slammed into the moon on August 5 at approximately 2:35 AM EDT, hitting near Einstein Crater on the far side at 5,400 mph. The impact carved out an 89-foot crater with energy equivalent to 3 tons of TNT. The 45-foot upper stage had been drifting through space for roughly 18 months. It originally launched on January 15, 2025, carrying Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost lander and ispace's lunar lander to the moon. The collision was unintentional and could have been avoided if the spent stage had been nudged into orbit around the sun instead of left to drift. With this impact, human-made debris on the lunar surface now exceeds 209 tons. The crash was not visible from Earth but was tracked by orbiters including NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. @SpaceX Source: Bloomberg