{"id":64400,"date":"2026-08-19T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/?guid=49a03caf727098e231f2577b2d6c7bdc"},"modified":"2026-08-19T17:32:53","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T17:32:53","slug":"a-spacex-rocket-slammed-into-the-moon-this-month-and-a-nasa-spacecraft-has-spotted-its-lunar-grave-photos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/2026\/08\/19\/a-spacex-rocket-slammed-into-the-moon-this-month-and-a-nasa-spacecraft-has-spotted-its-lunar-grave-photos\/","title":{"rendered":"A SpaceX rocket slammed into the moon this month \u2014 and a NASA spacecraft has spotted its lunar grave (photos)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n \n
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NASA's veteran moon-circling spacecraft, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), has imaged the impact site of that errant Falcon 9 upper stage. <\/p>

The photos were taken on Aug. 11 and Aug. 12, just a few days after the SpaceX<\/u><\/a> rocket body slammed into the moon<\/u><\/a> near Einstein Crater at 5,400 mph (8,690 kph). <\/p>

LRO's high-resolution camera system, known as LROC, got good views of the aftermath<\/u><\/a> from a variety of angles, snapping away every 117 minutes, the time it takes the orbiter to circuit the moon<\/u><\/a>. <\/p>

\"before-and-after<\/p><\/div><\/div>

This is an animated before-and-after view of the crater formed after a Falcon 9 upper stage struck the moon's surface on Aug. 5, 2026. The after images were taken on Aug. 11 and Aug. 12 by the Narrow-Angle Camera on NASA\u2019s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. These images are enlarged three times from the original, with north facing up, and they cover an area about a quarter of a mile wide. <\/span>(Image credit: NASA Goddard\/Intuitive Machines)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>

Diameter and depth<\/h2>

According to LROC Principal Investigator Mark Robinson, who's based at the Houston company Intuitive Machines<\/u><\/a>, the newly formed impact crater is about 60 feet (18 meters) wide and appears to be less than 10 feet (3 m) deep. <\/p>

\"The distinctive V-shaped ejecta pattern on the south side of the crater is consistent with natural impactors hitting the moon at low angles relative to the surface,\" said Robinson. <\/p>

The sixth<\/u><\/a> (and final) image in LROC's sequence of the new crater, he added, was acquired with the largest slew angle (68 degrees), presenting a view similar to what an Artemis<\/u><\/a> astronaut would see looking out his or her Orion<\/u><\/a> spacecraft window toward the lunar horizon. <\/p>