SpaceX rocket crashes into the moon as cyberattacks hit U.S. water systems

SpaceX moon crash, water utility cyberattacks and a new mRNA flu shot

Scientists analyze an accidental SpaceX impact on the moon as cyberattacks target U.S. water systems and a new mRNA flu vaccine is approved by the FDA

By Rachel Feltman , Claire Cameron , Fonda Mwangi & Alex Sugiura

Rachel Feltman : Happy Monday listeners. For Scientific American ’s Science Quickly , I’m Rachel Feltman. You’re listening to our weekly science news roundup.

Let’s start on the moon, where a SpaceX rocket crashed into the surface early last Wednesday morning. This was an accident, but it didn’t catch scientists by surprise—and it hopefully won’t be a useless collision. Here to tell us more is Scientific American ’s breaking news chief, Claire Cameron. Thanks for joining us, Claire.

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Feltman: So this piece of rocket was supposedly going to hit the moon. Did it do so?

Cameron: Yes it did. We know that it did hit the moon at some point on August 5th. European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope was able to detect the impact plume, which lasted between five and 10 minutes after the impact.