NASA spots new crater on the moon created when a SpaceX rocket crashed

SpaceNASA spots new crater on the moon created when a SpaceX rocket crashedA defunct part of a Falcon 9 rocket slammed into the moon uncontrolled this month at an estimated 5,400 mph. Now NASA has photos.Listen to this article with a free profile00:0000:00An animated before-and-after view of the crater formed when a Falcon 9 upper stage struck the moon’s surface on Aug. 5. NASA Goddard/Intuitive MachinesShareAdd to GoogleAug. 18, 2026, 6:15 PM EDTBy Denise ChowA NASA spacecraft in orbit around the moon captured dramatic images of the impact crater left when a SpaceX rocket smashed into the lunar surface this month.The defunct upper stage of a Falcon 9 rocket crashed uncontrolled into the moon on Aug. 5 at an estimated 5,400 mph. The roughly 10,800-pound booster had launched two landers to the moon in January 2025, then remained adrift in orbit until the impact.NASA on Tuesday released new images of the crash site taken by its Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter on Aug. 11 and 12. Before-and-after views reveal a bright divot in the moon’s already-pockmarked terrain.Collected Aug. 11 and 12 by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, these images were taken from different angles, with the lighting from the sun gradually changing. Each image shows an area of the moon about 1,000 feet wide.NASA Goddard/Intuitive MachinesAlthough there were no live views of the Aug. 5 impact, researchers were able to track the rocket’s trajectory and pinpoint the expected site of the new crater along the western edge of the moon’s sunlit side.NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter cannot easily pick a precise spot to photograph because it circles the moon from pole to pole every two hours, while the moon rotates on its axis. That means the spacecraft must wait for its orbit to line up with a specific location as it rotates into view. NASA said it took six days for the orbiter to fly over the SpaceX crash site. Engineers had to tilt the spacecraft so its cameras would point toward the crater as it flew...