Contrary to previous reports, it is not Elon Musk's SpaceX that will be responsible for creating a crater on the moon's surface, but rather a piece of a rocket launched by China's space agency. Bill Gray, developer of Project Pluto, recently announced that a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket's upper stage was on a trajectory to intersect with the moon's path. This rocket had launched the Deep Space Climate Observatory for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in February 2015. Gray had been monitoring this rocket part for years, and in early January, it came within 6,000 miles of the moon's surface, with its trajectory suggesting a potential crash on a subsequent orbit. Reports from amateur astronomers witnessing the object passing Earth once again confirmed the anticipated collision within the Hertzsprung crater. However, an email received on Saturday from Jon Giorgini, an engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, provided a new perspective. Giorgini oversees Horizons, an online database capable of tracking the locations and orbits of nearly 1.2 million objects in the solar system, including approximately 200 spacecraft. After a user inquired about the object's connection to the DSCOVR rocket, Giorgini decided to investigate further. He discovered that the orbit did not match the trajectory of DSCOVR and reached out to Gray. Gray's first reaction was confidence that he had made the correct assessment. However, he reviewed his old emails to refresh his memory on when this object was initially observed in March 2015, approximately a month after DSCOVR was launched. Typically, newly spotted objects in the sky are assumed to be asteroids, and this object was no exception. It was labeled as WE0913A. However, it was discovered that WE0913A was actually orbiting Earth, not the sun, suggesting that it originated from Earth. Gray suggested that it could be a part of the rocket that launched DSCOVR. Additional data showed that WE0913A passed the moon two days after DSCOVR was launched, confirming the identification. Gray realized that his mistake was assuming DSCOVR was launched towards the moon to use its gravity to reach its final destination, where it provides warning of solar storms. Giorgini pointed out that DSCOVR was actually launched on a direct path that did not pass the moon. Gray admitted that he regretted not reviewing something before making his January announcement. Jon Giorgini pointed out the error to him, and Gray acknowledged that he had made a mistake. SpaceX did not comment on the issue, and it is likely that they have not been tracking the rocket stage in question. Typically, the second stage of a Falcon 9 is burned up in the atmosphere, but in this case, the rocket needed all of its propellant to deliver DSCOVR to its destination. However, the unpowered and uncontrolled second stage of the rocket was in an orbit that was not a threat to any satellites, so it was likely not being monitored. Gray expressed a desire for transparency from those launching boosters into high orbits, instead of having to investigate on his own. Gray then searched through previous launches, specifically focusing on those going towards the moon, but found very few in that category. The primary candidate was a Long March 3C rocket that launched China's Chang'e-5 T1 spacecraft on October 23, 2014. The spacecraft orbited the moon before returning to Earth, releasing a return capsule that landed in Mongolia. This was a test for the Chang'e-5 mission in 2020, which successfully collected moon rocks and dust for study on Earth. A computer simulation of the orbit of WE0913A in the past indicated a close lunar flyby on October 28, just five days after the Chinese launch. Data from a cubesat attached to the Long March rocket's third stage closely matched WE0913A, according to Gray. “It’s a case that could likely result in a conviction if taken to a jury,” stated Christophe Demeautis, an amateur astronomer from northeast France. Recent observations have slightly adjusted the predicted impact time and location of the object hitting the moon. The crash is expected to occur at approximately 7:26 am Eastern time, but it will not be visible from Earth due to its location on the far side of the moon. The search for the Falcon 9 part continues as the whereabouts of the DSCOVR second stage remain unknown. It is most likely that the object ended up orbiting the sun instead of the Earth, making it currently unobservable. There have been instances of pieces of old rockets returning, such as a mystery object discovered in 2020 that was part of a rocket launched in 1966 for NASA's Surveyor missions to the moon.