NASA images reveal crater from SpaceX rocket impact on moon
NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter captured detailed photos of a fresh crater created when a SpaceX Falcon upper stage struck the lunar surface on Aug. 5.
A NASA spacecraft orbiting the moon has returned the clearest images yet of the crater formed by a SpaceX Falcon rocket that impacted the lunar surface on Aug. 5. The Falcon upper stage, traveling at about 5,400 mph after more than a year of drifting in space, struck the moon as part of a 2025 mission that launched two private landers and a small rover.
Images taken by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter show the new crater to be roughly 60 feet (18 meters) wide and less than 10 feet (3 meters) deep. Dark streaks radiating from the rim represent surface material altered by solar wind and micrometeorite impacts, while brighter rays are fresh rock and soil ejected from deeper layers.
The orbiter photographed the site a week after the impact from an altitude of about 60 miles (96 kilometers), adjusting its orientation to point the cameras at the scene. Because the spacecraft completes a polar orbit every two hours, it took six days for the impact area to come into view. South Korea’s Danuri probe transmitted the first images of the crater before NASA’s orbiter captured the higher-resolution views.
The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, in service since 2009, continues to provide detailed observations that support NASA’s broader goal of returning astronauts to the Moon.