SpaceX rocket stage to carve a new crater on the Moon

A SpaceX Falcon 9 upper stage from the January 15, 2025 mission is slated to crash into the Moon on Aug 5 at about 2.43 km/s near Einstein crater, excavating a 20–30 meter crater and lofting a dust cloud 15–20 km high (potentially higher in optimistic scenarios). The impact is a kinetic event, not an explosion, releasing roughly 3 tons of TNT equivalent; telescopes and spacecraft like NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and Japan’s Danuri will document the debris before and after, aiding studies of debris in cislunar space.