NASA photos show 60-foot crater on the Moon from SpaceX's upper stage
NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter captured images showing a 60-foot-wide crater near Einstein crater on the Moon, created when the upper stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 impacted the lunar surface on Aug. 5, 2025. The discarded upper stage hit at about 5,400 mph (8,700 km/h) after a Jan. 15, 2025 mission to deliver lunar landers. First spotted by independent astronomer Bill Gray, NASA refined the impact location with LRO observations taken Aug. 11–12, revealing dust and rock ejecta streaks around the crater. The event was difficult to observe from Earth due to lighting and the Moon’s geometry, and the crater is relatively small compared with typical meteoroid impacts.
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- NASA’s LRO Images Falcon 9 Crater on Moon, Learns New Details NASA Science (.gov)
- Before-and-after images show where SpaceX rocket crashed into the moon The Washington Post
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