NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has photographed a newly formed crater on the Moon after a SpaceX Falcon 9 upper stage struck the lunar surface. South Korea’s Danuri spacecraft also played a key role in locating the impact site.
Falcon 9 Upper Stage Strikes Near Einstein Crater
The Falcon 9 upper stage crashed into the Moon on 5 August after its orbit brought it into contact with the lunar surface.
The rocket stage had previously launched two lunar landers towards the Moon: Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost and ispace’s Resilience.
Weighing about 4,000 kilograms, the upper stage hit the Moon’s near side at almost 9,000 kilometres per hour. The impact occurred close to the Einstein crater.
NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, known as LRO, photographed the newly formed crater between 11 and 12 August from an altitude of about 96 kilometres.
The six-day gap between the collision and the observations was a consequence of the spacecraft’s orbit. LRO follows a polar path around the Moon and photographs the terrain below as the lunar surface rotates beneath it.
Precise Orbiter Manoeuvre Captures Impact Site
Timing and positioning presented a challenge
Capturing a specific location required LRO to tilt towards the crater during each pass. This allowed the narrow-angle and wide-angle units of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera to observe the impact zone.
Accurate pointing was only one part of the operation. The timing also needed to be highly precise, as an error of only a few seconds could have moved the crater away from the centre of the image or entirely outside the camera’s field of view.
The manoeuvre succeeded, enabling NASA to compare photographs taken before and after the Falcon 9 stage struck the Moon.
Crater measured at about 18 metres wide
NASA personnel used images from LRO’s narrow-angle camera to estimate the crater’s dimensions. It measures approximately 18 metres across and about three metres deep.
One set of enlarged images covers an area roughly 400 metres wide. Differences in the spacecraft’s viewing position created variations in lighting and shadows, helping researchers identify changes to the surface.
Four additional images were captured from different angles and under varying sunlight conditions. Each covered an area about 300 metres wide.
Bright rays and patches surrounding the crater represent ejecta — fresh material thrown out during the collision. The surrounding terrain appears darker because it has been exposed for longer to space weathering and repeated micrometeorite impacts.
NASA Predicted the Lunar Impact in Advance
NASA did not begin searching for the rocket stage only after it struck the Moon. The agency had already calculated where the impact was likely to occur.
Its Center for Near-Earth Object Studies, or CNEOS, normally monitors asteroids and calculates their trajectories to determine whether they could pass close to or collide with Earth.
In this case, the centre tracked the Falcon 9 upper stage and progressively refined its predicted impact area as the object’s trajectory changed.
CNEOS produced two possible impact ellipses, each measuring about 3.3 kilometres long and approximately 640 metres wide. One calculation incorporated the Moon’s terrain, while the other did not.
South Korea’s Danuri Orbiter Helps Confirm Location
NASA provided its calculations to the Republic of Korea’s Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter, commonly known as Danuri.
A few hours after the collision, Danuri photographed the target area and confirmed that the CNEOS prediction was accurate to within about one kilometre. The resulting coordinates were then passed to the LRO team for more detailed observations.
The collaboration demonstrated how spacecraft operated by different countries can work together to track objects and document changes on the lunar surface.
SpaceX Describes Collision as an Isolated Event
SpaceX said it follows all applicable rules and regulations and described the lunar impact as a one-off event.
The company said it normally disposes of spent rocket hardware responsibly. However, in this instance, the combined effects of gravity and solar activity altered the upper stage’s path and ultimately caused it to collide with the Moon.
The observations by Danuri and NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter have now provided scientists with a detailed record of the impact, including the crater’s location, size and surrounding debris.
Alexander Donovan writes for News Collective, covering news, politics, business, technology, sport, entertainment, and lifestyle. He focuses on clear, reliable reporting and useful information, helping readers stay informed about current events, emerging trends, and stories that matter.