Overview
- A spent SpaceX Falcon 9 upper stage struck the Moon at an estimated 5,400 mph on Aug. 5 and carved a roughly 60‑foot (18 m) wide crater less than 10 feet (3 m) deep, according to NASA analysis of LRO images.
- NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter took targeted before-and-after Narrow‑Angle Camera photos on Aug. 11–12 after engineers waited six days for orbital geometry and precisely tilted the spacecraft to image the site.
- The images show distinct dark and bright ejecta rays that NASA says were excavated from about 1.5 feet and from deeper layers respectively, giving researchers a clear data point to validate crater‑formation and surface‑layer models.
- South Korea’s Danuri orbiter and independent astronomers first located the impact and supplied coordinates that helped NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies and LRO refine the follow‑up imaging plan.
- The event highlights how solar radiation pressure and gravitational perturbations can nudge spent stages onto lunar-impact trajectories and has intensified calls for improved cislunar tracking, coordinated traffic management, and clearer disposal practices.