Quick Takeaways
NASA’s LRO captured images of a new Moon crater from a recent impact.
Impact occurred on August 5th, caused by SpaceX Falcon 9 stage.
Imaging required precise timing, angles, and coordination between multiple teams.
Crater is less than 10 feet deep, 60 feet wide, with distinct rays visible.
NASA’s LRO Captures Images of Fresh Falcon 9 Crater on the Moon
Between August 11 and 12, NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) took detailed images of a new crater on the Moon. The crater appeared after a recent impact on August 5, caused when an old Falcon 9 upper stage crashed into the lunar surface. This event followed the January 2025 launch of SpaceX’s Firefly Blue Ghost 1 mission, which left behind the debris.
To see this impact site clearly, NASA had to carefully position the spacecraft. LRO was tilted so its cameras pointed right at the crater each time it passed about 60 miles above the Moon. The orbiter moves very fast, traveling at about 1 mile per second. It takes about two hours for LRO to orbit the Moon from pole to pole, while the Moon itself slowly turns underneath it. To photograph a specific spot, LRO waited for the right moment, which took six days. Engineers had to precise timing; even a 10-second error could have shifted the images by 10 miles.
Scientists used different viewing angles to analyze the crater under various light conditions. These multiple images revealed different features of the crater’s shape and structure. Using the detail from the images, they measured the crater’s width at about 60 feet. They also found that it is less than 10 feet deep, based on the length of its shadow. To get such high detail, LRO relied on its Narrow-Angle Camera, which can see features as small as 3 feet wide.
Bright and dark streaks, called rays, extend outward from the new crater. The darker streaks are made of dust and rocks that have changed over time due to exposure to solar wind, cosmic rays, and tiny meteorite impacts. When the impact happened, it dug about 1.5 feet into the lunar surface, exposing older, weathered material. The brighter streaks near the edge of the crater are made of fresh material from deeper underground that was recently uncovered by the collision.
Finding the exact impact site was a global effort. Independent astronomers first used public data to estimate the rocket’s trajectory. NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies then refined that data to predict where the impact would occur. This center tested its tools and methods using this incident, helping improve impact prediction technology for future hazards.
Based at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, the center provided the predicted impact location to Korea’s planetary orbiter, Danuri. The drone’s high-resolution camera took images of the crater a few hours later. The prediction was very accurate, within about 0.6 miles. After capturing and analyzing the images, the Danuri team shared the coordinates with NASA’s LRO team. The updated information showed the impact site at 19.4759° North, 266.7138° East, at an elevation of 511 meters.
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