Moon Litter: The Space Race Leaves Debris on the Lunar Surface
TL;DR Summary
With the U.S. and China racing to return to the Moon, rockets are leaving debris on the lunar surface, including a SpaceX Falcon 9 upper stage expected to strike near Einstein crater in August 2026. The piece notes past lunar hardware from Apollo missions, cites the Outer Space Treaty’s ban on harmful contamination (with limited enforcement), and warns that as permanent lunar bases approach, directing stages into solar orbit could prevent turning the Moon into a space junkyard.
- We're Launching So Much Stuff At The Moon That We're Littering It With Space Junk Now Jalopnik
- A SpaceX rocket booster is on track to hit the moon at several times the speed of sound Scientific American
- Elon Musk’s SpaceX rocket set for 5,400 mph crash on moon’s Einstein crater: Report Interesting Engineering
- SpaceX rocket debris could slam into the moon: Here's what you need to know Space
- Piece of SpaceX rocket to hit Moon, says astronomy code dev theregister.com
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