An ESO Very Large Telescope in Chile captured spectral lines of sodium and lithium gas in the plume created when a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket upper stage struck the moon at 6:35 am GMT on Wednesday. The impact occurred near the lunar terminator and was observed at a speed of 8,690 km/h. The plume, tens of kilometres across, remained visible for five to ten minutes. Elon Musk’s SpaceX launched the Falcon 9 in January 2025 carrying two lunar landers. Its booster returned to Earth while the upper stage remained to propel the landers toward the moon. The stage, about the height of a five‑storey building and weighing four tonnes, became part of the space debris orbiting the moon. Astronomers determined that the sodium likely originated from lunar soil, while lithium traces probably came from the rocket stage itself, according to Carl Schmidt of Boston University. Dr Sara Webb of Swinburne University estimated the impact would have created a crater about 20 metres in diameter and five metres deep. She noted that multiple telescopes were watching the event but no clear images of the collision were obtained. NASA plans to use its Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and South Korea’s Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter to photograph the site, which may reveal the wreckage. Understanding such debris impacts is important as NASA aims to establish a sustained human presence on the moon.