NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has captured the first clear images of a crater formed when a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket stage struck the moon at 5,400 mph on Aug. 5, 2026. The space agency released the before-and-after photos on Tuesday, revealing a fresh impact site 60 feet wide and less than 10 feet deep. Scientists noted dark and bright streaks radiating from the crater, resembling butterfly wings. The darker lines are older material shaped by solar wind and cosmic rays, while the brighter rays are freshly exposed rock and soil.
The orbiter took the images a week after the collision, flying 60 miles above the moon’s surface at one mile per second. Flight controllers had to adjust the spacecraft’s angle to capture the scene. The orbiter, which has been orbiting the moon since 2009, completes a polar orbit every two hours as the moon rotates beneath it. The impact site was first photographed by South Korea’s Danuri spacecraft, which relayed initial images back to Earth.
The Falcon 9 rocket stage had been drifting in space for over a year after launching a pair of private moon landers and a small rover in 2025 as part of NASA’s commercial lunar exploration efforts. The crash occurred after the rocket stage ran out of fuel and was no longer maneuverable. NASA scientists are using the images to study how impacts alter the moon’s surface and to test the orbiter’s imaging capabilities.
The crater’s size and features provide insights into the moon’s regolith and the effects of high-speed impacts. The images also highlight the growing role of private companies in lunar exploration, as SpaceX’s rocket stage became the latest human-made object to leave a mark on the moon. The orbiter’s data will be shared with researchers studying lunar geology and future mission planning.