A SpaceX rocket launched in 2015 is on a collision course with the moon, where it's expected to crash and explode, astronomers say.
The Falcon 9 booster has been floating through space -- being pulled in various directions from the gravitational forces of the Earth, moon and sun -- since it finished its mission, SpaceX officials say. "It's been dead," says Professor Jonathan McDowell of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. "Just following the laws of gravity."
However, its journey is expected to end on March 4th when it crashes into the moon, McDowell says. "If you imagine throwing that at a rock at 5,000 miles an hour, it's not going to be happy," the professor adds. The resulting explosion is expected to leave a small crater on the moon's surface, astronomers say.
Is there a problem with leaving so much junk floating around in space?