Out-of-control rocket crashes into the Moon – probably

(Getty Images)

An out-of-control rocket has crashed into the Moon – at least according to calculations.

The spacecraft was projected to slam into the lunar surface just after midday UK time.

It is uncertain what exactly it is: while scientists tracking the object think it is probably a Chinese spacecraft, the country denies it, and it has also been suggested that it could be a piece of SpaceX rocket. It may never be definitively established where the discarded piece of space junk originally came from.

And it is uncertain that it has definitely arrived. The rocket crashed into the Moon’s far side – meaning there may be no confirmation of its arrival for weeks or even months.

If it has crashed, however, it will have done so at speed: it was traveling through space at almost 60,00mph.

Scientists think that it will have formed a new crater and sent plumes of lunar soil up around it. Researchers hope to study that impact when data is eventually sent back to Earth.