NASA Cameras Reveal Fresh Moon Crater Formed by SpaceX Upper Stage Crash
TL;DR
NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter captured before-and-after images showing a fresh ~60‑foot crater on the Moon caused by SpaceX’s Falcon upper stage crashing into the surface at about 5,400 mph on Aug. 5, 2026. The high‑resolution shots reveal dark ejecta rays near the crater and brighter material farther out, photographed from 60 miles up about a week after impact as part of NASA’s push to commercialize lunar exploration; South Korea’s Danuri was first on scene, and LRO has orbited the Moon since 2009 to monitor the surface.
- Before-And-After Images Show Crater Carved By SpaceX Rocket That Slammed Into The Moon Patch
- NASA’s LRO Images Falcon 9 Crater on Moon, Learns New Details NASA Science (.gov)
- New images reveal what happened when a SpaceX rocket slammed into the moon CNN
- Before-and-after images show where SpaceX rocket crashed into the moon The Washington Post
- SpaceX rocket's moon crash highlights 'a tangible operational risk' of lunar settlement Space
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