NASA announced Tuesday that its Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has returned clear images of a newly formed crater on the Moon’s surface. The crater, about 60 feet (18 meters) wide, was created when the upper stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket slammed into the Moon on Aug. 5.
How the impact occurred
The Falcon 9 launch on Jan. 15, 2025 carried two commercial lunar landers. After delivering its payload, the rocket’s first stage returned to Earth, while the second stage continued on a trajectory toward lunar orbit. SpaceX intentionally abandoned the upper stage in space, but orbital dynamics eventually nudged it onto a collision course with the Moon.
International effort to capture the site
Within days of the impact, the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope in Chile detected the event, and South Korea’s Danuri lunar orbiter posted images on social media. NASA collaborated with the Korea Aerospace Administration, using Danuri’s preliminary data to steer LRO’s narrow‑angle camera toward the impact zone.
Engineers tilted LRO so its cameras faced the crater each time the spacecraft passed roughly 60 miles (96 km) above the Moon, traveling about one mile per second. Because the LRO circles the Moon every two hours, it took six days for its orbital path to line up with the new crater, and additional time to process the imagery. Even a ten‑second delay in taking a picture could have caused the crater to drift out of frame by up to ten miles.
NASA’s assessment
NASA lunar scientist Kelsey Young emphasized that the collision poses no danger to Earth or to the Moon’s existing surface. “This is a technically accepted and safe method of disposing of hardware in low lunar orbit,” Young said in a video posted to social media. He added that the Moon is constantly struck by meteors, asteroids and comets, and that the recent impact offers a valuable opportunity to study the lunar regolith.
Scientists plan to use the data to improve understanding of the Moon’s surface composition and to inform future efforts to protect astronauts and any infrastructure that may be built there.
What this means for future missions
The images provide a real‑world case study of how discarded hardware interacts with the lunar environment. As commercial and government entities prepare for a new era of lunar exploration, the incident underscores the importance of precise orbital planning and responsible disposal practices.
While the impact was unplanned, NASA’s rapid response demonstrates the agency’s capability to monitor and document unexpected events in space, reinforcing its role as a steward of both Earth’s and the Moon’s safety.
Original reporting: El Paso News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
