Yesterday, the SpaceX rocket debris impacted the Moon as scheduled!

The impact site is extremely far from China's lunar probes, and the Queqiao satellite cannot capture high-resolution images.

At 14:35 Beijing Time on August 5, a Falcon 9 upper stage debris that had been drifting for nearly 19 months collided with the Moon’s western side near the Einstein crater (15°N, 93.6°W) at a speed of 2.43 km/s.

This debris weighs approximately 4 tons and is about 12 meters long, originating from a commercial lunar mission launched in January 2025.

After delivering two lunar landers into trans-lunar orbit, the rocket exhausted its fuel and was unable to return to Earth. Under the gravitational perturbations of the Sun, Earth, and Moon, it wandered aimlessly for years before ultimately crashing onto the lunar surface.

The Moon has no atmosphere, offering absolutely no deceleration or cushioning effect. The impact released energy equivalent to about 3 tons of TNT explosive. Modeling predicts the formation of an artificial crater with a diameter of 20–30 meters and a depth of around 5 meters, ejecting lunar soil fragments tens to hundreds of kilometers into the sky.

The impact flash lasted less than one second and occurred in a region illuminated by sunlight. It was invisible to the naked eye and ordinary telescopes; only large-aperture professional observatories attempted to detect the dust plume signal.

At the time of impact, the Moon was below China’s horizon, making observation impossible.

The U.S. Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) will fly over the impact coordinates within several days to two weeks, enabling high-resolution comparative imaging.

The South Korean Danuri spacecraft had already adjusted its orbit to approach the impact area prior to the event, synchronously recording surface disturbances and dust jet characteristics.

Ground-based large telescopes in South and North America are using spectroscopic instruments to capture metallic gas signals generated by the impact, indirectly reconstructing the collision process.

China’s Queqiao-2 is currently also in lunar orbit.

Queqiao-2 is not fixed above any specific point on the Moon’s surface—it continuously orbits the Moon along an elliptical trajectory, with its straight-line distance to the impact site constantly changing:

When it flies near the impact site overhead: the distance to the lunar surface is between 200 and several hundred kilometers;

When it reaches the far side of the Moon: the straight-line distance to the impact site can exceed 13,000 kilometers.

At the moment of impact, Queqiao-2 was not directly above the impact site—separated by thousands of kilometers—with no risk of collision.

However, Queqiao-2 lacks a high-resolution imaging camera and cannot photograph this newly formed impact crater.

The SpaceX debris impact site is far from China’s lunar assets, posing no threat to any of China’s lunar missions.

What lunar probes does China currently have near the Moon?

Queqiao-2 relay satellite: Currently flying on a 24-hour-period highly elliptical orbit around the Moon, continuously circling the Moon—it is China’s only active lunar-orbiting spacecraft operated by the China National Space Administration.

Chang’e-4 lander and Yutu-2 rover: Located on the far side of the Moon at the Von Kármán crater (45°S, 177°E), stationary on the lunar surface and no longer moving.

Chang’e-6 lander: Remaining stationary on the far side at the south pole-Aitken basin (41.6°S, 154°W).

Shortest distance from the impact site to Chang’e-6 landing point: approximately 3,450 kilometers—spanning more than half the Moon’s surface.

Shortest distance from the impact site to Chang’e-4 landing point: approximately 3,800 kilometers.

Therefore, the impact site is at a cross-hemisphere, long-distance range from both Chinese lunar landmarks—physically completely safe, with impact ejecta unable to reach such distances.

The impact would only stir up a local dust plume extending tens to hundreds of kilometers. Ejecta will not spread thousands of kilometers to reach the Chang’e-4 and Chang’e-6 landing zones, so equipment remains unaffected.

Original source: toutiao.com/article/1872721814628364/

Disclaimer: This article represents the personal views of the author.