Before-And-After Images Show Crater Carved By SpaceX Rocket That Slammed Into The Moon
NASA says the crater was carved by a SpaceX rocket stage that hit the Moon at 5,400 mph after drifting for more than a year.
- On Tuesday, NASA released detailed before-and-after photos of a fresh lunar crater captured by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter , documenting the impact site of a SpaceX rocket that collided with the Moon on August 5.
- Following its mission, the SpaceX Falcon upper stage drifted as space junk before succumbing to lunar gravity. Regulators lack guidance for spent rocket stages, sometimes "throwing them away" onto celestial bodies.
- Traveling at 5,400 mph, the rocket created a crater 60 feet wide and under 10 feet deep. Bright and dark streaks emanate from the site, representing fresh rock and soil unearthed from beneath the lunar surface.
- South Korea's Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter first identified the crash site, with the LRO later providing high-resolution imagery. This incident follows previous unintentional collisions involving a Chinese Long March rocket stage and the Russian Luna-25.
- The Outer Space Treaty mandates that "States shall avoid harmful contamination of space and celestial bodies," though enforcement remains limited. As lunar exploration intensifies, increased human activity may lead to further detritus accumulation on the Moon.
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11 Articles
The impact of the upper stage of a Falcon 9 rocket, evidenced by photographs of Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter on August 11 and 12, 2026, questions.
NASA releases first images of SpaceX lunar crash crater
The discarded Falcon 9 rocket stage slammed into the Moon earlier this month after drifting through space for more than a year. NASA has released images showing a crater blasted into the Moon by a discarded SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket stage that struck the lunar surface at around 5,400 mph (8,700 kph) earlier this month. The US space agency published an animated before-and-after comparison on Tuesday, using images captured by its Lunar Reconnaissance…
SpaceX rocket stage creates a new crater on the Moon
A spent upper stage from a SpaceX Falcon rocket crashed into the lunar surface on August 5. The collision occurred because the orbits of the two objects intersected. According to NASA, the object—weighing approximately 4,000 kg—struck the visible side of the Moon near the Einstein crater at a speed of nearly 9,000 km/h. On August 11-12, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) captured images of the impact site from an altitude of 96 km. Using nar…
NASA images reveal 60-foot-wide crater on moon left by SpaceX rocket
The moon officially has a new crater. On August 5 the upper stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket smacked into the face of our natural satellite at an estimated 5,400 miles an hour—several times the speed of sound. Astronomers predicted the crash would cause a plume of debris to rise up from the moon, leaving a crater behind for posterity. And now we can see the damage for ourselves. On August 11 and 12 NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spot…
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