SpaceX piece 'slammed' into Moon

NEW YORK:

A four-tonne piece of a SpaceX rocket was believed to have unintentionally crashed into the Moon on Wednesday, a collision that posed no danger to Earth but is expected to leave behind a lunar crater.

While there is not yet official confirmation that the Falcon 9 upper stage struck the lunar surface, it had been expected to make impact at approximately 0635 GMT.

NASA and its Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter probe and South Korea's Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter were planning to take images of the site after impact, but it may take days to receive that information.

Scientists and amateur stargazers alike had been looking forward to observing the sunlit plume of rubble and debris created by the smash.