SpaceX rocket set to crash into Moon
A SpaceX rocket stage is set to impact the Moon, adding to the thousands of human-made objects already on the lunar surface. While the debris poses no environmental threat to the Moon, scientists are concerned about the preservation of historic sites and the risk of future mission collisions.
Why it matters
As lunar exploration increases, the management of space debris becomes a critical issue for international space agencies and private companies to ensure the safety of future missions.
Today's crash means the Moon now has roughly 3,000 human-made objects , weighing around 190 tonnes combined.
These have built up since the Soviet Union's Luna 2 became the first spacecraft to reach the lunar surface in September 1959.
NASA's own tally lists 796 items from its Moon programme alone, mostly left behind by the six Apollo missions; the wider 3,000 figure emerges once you add every other nation and company's hardware too, from Soviet and Chinese landers to crashed rocket stages like today's.
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