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SpaceX rocket impact creates 60-foot crater on moon, NASA images show

From Liberty Times · () Chinese

Translated from Chinese, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Outcome reported
  • A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket upper stage that crashed into the moon on August 5 has created a new impact crater approximately 60 feet (18 meters) in diameter.
  • NASA released before-and-after photos of the impact site, showing a crater with dark and bright streaks resembling butterfly wings.
  • The rocket stage had been drifting in space for over a year after a 2025 launch carrying private lunar landers and experiments.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket upper stage slammed into the moon on August 5, leaving behind a newly formed crater roughly 60 feet wide. NASA released comparative images on Tuesday, captured by its Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter about a week after the impact.

The images clearly show the crater and radiating ejecta patterns, described as resembling butterfly wings. The darker streaks are material disturbed from the lunar surface by solar winds and micrometeorites over time, while the brighter rays are fresh rock and soil ejected during the impact.

The rocket stage had been in space for over a year following its 2025 launch. It was carrying two private lunar landers, experimental equipment, and even a mini lunar rover as part of NASA's commercial lunar exploration initiatives.

South Korea's Danuri lunar orbiter was the first spacecraft to transmit images from the impact zone.

The images clearly show the crater and radiating ejecta patterns, described as resembling butterfly wings.

— NASADescribing the visual evidence of the impact site.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Liberty Times in Chinese. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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