4-Tonne Rocket To Crash Into Moon Today, Create Huge Crater

Astronomers won't be able to observe the crash, but expect its image will be taken by NAS's orbiter of India's Chandrayaan 2.

A wayward rocket will crash into the Moon on Friday, marking the first time that space junk is accidentally hitting the lunar surface. The four-tonne rocket body will smash into a crater on the Moon at a speed of 8,800 kilometres per hour.

The expected time of the impact, according to The Guardian is 12.25pm GMT (5.55pm IST). It further reported that the crash will create a huge crater, and also send moon dust and debris flying up 20 to 30 metres.

"Things have hit the moon in the past, but those were primarily deliberate impacts, or we tried to land and crashed on the surface," Dr Vishnu Reddy, associate professor at the University of Arizona, told The Guardian. "This is an impact of a rocket body that is unintentional," said the man whose team helped to identify the object.

The wayward rocket was earlier thought to be a chunk of SpaceX rocket that blasted off seven years ago and was abandoned in space after completing its mission.