Observational planning for the 2026 August 5 Falcon 9 Upper Stage lunar impact
2026/07/16 by Benjamin Fernando, Jennifer Heldmann, Bill Grey +20 · 11 voices
#astro-ph.EP #astro-ph.IM
paper · pdf
Abstract
On 2026 August 5, at approximately 06:35 UT, a spent Falcon 9 upper stage will impact the lunar surface near Einstein Crater. This event will occur on sunlit terrain near the eastern limb as seen from Earth. The impact flash and resultant ejecta plume from this event are potentially observable from ground- and space-based observational facilities. This event provides an opportunity to attempt the recording of an artificial impact in real-time; although many of the properties of the event (such as visual magnitude) are imprecisely predicted at present. Moreover, this event provides an opportunity to test a pipeline for localising impacts on the lunar surface for future seismic experiments, investigating the dust and plume dynamics from impact events on the Moon, and considering hazards from artificial space debris impacts. Both professional and amateur astronomers are encouraged to attempt observations of this event.
Discussions
- An abandoned Falcon 9 stage will hit the Moon in a few weeks New paper discussing planned observations arxiv.org/abs/2607.14625 [bsky, 80 points, 4 comments]
- 国際研究チームが、まもなく月面へ衝突すると予測されている「ファルコン9」ロケットの第2段機体について、衝突時の観測計画をまとめた論文をarXivで公開しました。 この機体は、2025年1月に日米の民間月着陸機2機を打ち上げたものです。両機を分離したあとは、月の軌道付近まで達する非常に細長い地球周回軌道に残っていました。 現時点では、日本時間8月5日15時35分ごろ、地球から見て月の縁に近いアインシ [bsky, 8 points, 0 comments]
- ☄️ Le 5 août à 8h34m33s CEST, un second étage de Falcon 9 va percuter la Lune ! L'impact aura lieu vers le cratère Einstein, sur le limbe lunaire mais du côté visible depuis la Terre. Malheureusement, [bsky, 7 points, 1 comments]
- It's a long shot, but would be great to have an amateur observation campaign. arxiv.org/abs/2607.14625 #planetaryscience [bsky, 2 points, 0 comments]
- A spent Falcon 9 upper stage will impact The Moon on August 5th arxiv.org/abs/2607.14625 [bsky, 1 points, 0 comments]
- Looks like good viewing conditions to see Elon splat a spent Falcon 9 stage on the Moon August 5th. arxiv.org/abs/2607.14625 [bsky, 1 points, 0 comments]
- Gravity will *not* be turned off for 7 seconds on August 12, but a week earlier, there will be an impact on the Moon. www.projectpluto.com/25010d.htm arxiv.org/abs/2607.14625 [bsky, 1 points, 0 comments]
- #space #moon #astronomy SpaceX rocket to hit the Moon: On August 5, a spent Falcon 9 upper stage will impact the lunar surface near Einstein Crater. The impact flash and ejecta plume from this event a [bsky, 0 points, 0 comments]
- Related: [bsky, 0 points, 0 comments]
- #space #SpaceX [bsky, 0 points, 0 comments]
- Now he's literally just putting his trash on the moon? How is this fucking acceptable? arxiv.org/abs/2607.14625 [bsky, 0 points, 0 comments]
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