A NASA spacecraft in orbit around the moon captured dramatic images of the impact crater left when a SpaceX rocket smashed into the lunar surface this month.The defunct upper stage of a Falcon 9 rocket crashed uncontrolled into the moon on Aug.5 at an estimated 5,400 mph.
The roughly 10,800-pound booster had launched two landers to the moon in January 2025, then remained adrift in orbit until the impact.NASA on Tuesday released new images of the crash site taken by its Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter on Aug.11 and 12.
Before-and-after views reveal a bright divot in the moon’s already-pockmarked terrain.Collected Aug.11 and 12 by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, these images were taken from different angles, with the lighting from the sun gradually changing.
Each image shows an area of the moon about 1,000 feet wide.NASA Goddard/Intuitive MachinesAlthough there were no live views of the Aug.5 impact, researchers were able to track the rocket’s trajectory and pinpoint the expected site of the new crater along the western edge of the moon’s sunlit side.NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter cannot easily pick a precise spot to photograph because it circles the moon from pole to pole every two hours, while the moon rotates on its axis.
That means the spacecraft must wait for its orbit to line up with a specific location as it rotates into view.NASA said it took six days for the orbiter to fly over the SpaceX crash site.
Engineers had to tilt the spacecraft so its cameras would point toward the crater as it flew 60 miles above the lunar surface at 1 mile per second.The new photos reveal that the crater measures about 60 feet across.Based on the length of its shadow, scientists found that it is most likely less than 10 feet deep, according to NASA.The images also show bright and dark streaks emanating from the crater.
The darker rays are surface dust and rocks that were kicked up by the collision from a depth of around 1.5 feet, according to NASA.The bright...