Astronomers now say the rocket about to strike the Moon is not a Falcon 9

Enlarge / The Moon is safe from Falcon 9 rockets. (credit: NASA)

About three weeks ago, Ars Technica first reported that astronomers were tracking the upper stage of a Falcon 9 rocket and were increasingly confident that it would strike the Moon on March 4.

This story set off a firestorm of media activity. Much of this coverage criticized SpaceX for failing to properly dispose of the second stage of its Falcon 9 rocket after the launch of NOAA's Deep Space Climate Observatory mission, or DSCOVR, in 2015. The British tabloids, in particular, outdid themselves. Even the genteel European Space Agency tut-tutted, noting that it takes care to preserve enough fuel to put spent rocket stages into stable orbits around the Sun.

However, it turns out we were all wrong. A Falcon 9 rocket is not going to, in fact, strike the Moon next month. Instead, it's probably a Chinese rocket.

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