India, Aug. 5 -- A discarded SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket stage is set to crash into the Moon today in a rare human-made impact that scientists say could offer valuable insights into how craters form. According to Space.com, the Falcon 9 upper stage, left over from the January 2025 launch of Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost and ispace's Hakuto-R lunar missions, is expected to strike the Moon at 2:35 am EDT (0635 UTC) on August 5.

The 45-foot-long (13.8-meter) rocket stage, weighing about 9,000 pounds (around 4,000 kilograms), is expected to hit near Einstein Crater on the Moon's Earth-facing side at a speed of roughly 5,400 mph (8,700 km/h).

According to Space.com, the impact flash itself will probably not be visible because the rocket is expec...