Falcon 9 rocket stage hits moon, Chilean telescope detects sodium

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket stage crashed into the moon on Wednesday, an unintentional impact ending its year-long drift through space. The 8,800-pound second stage launched in January 2025 carrying two commercial lunar landers. Solar activity and gravity forced it onto a collision course at 5,400 mph. The Very Large Telescope in Chile detected sodium and lithium spectral lines in the impact plume. The crash poses no danger to Earth, NASA said. It occurred because the moon lacks an atmosphere to slow incoming objects, though it is struck daily by meteoroids. Human-made lunar impacts are uncommon.