NASA's LRO Images Falcon 9 Crater on Moon, Learns New Details

NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) captured detailed images of a newly formed crater on the Moon between August 11 and 12, 2025. The crater resulted from the impact of a SpaceX Falcon 9 upper stage, which had launched the Firefly Blue Ghost 1 mission in January 2025. Engineers adjusted the orbiter’s cameras to photograph the site during multiple passes, each time waiting for the Moon’s rotation to bring the location into view. The spacecraft traveled at 1 mile per second, requiring precise timing to avoid missing the target by up to 10 miles.

The LRO team measured the crater’s rim at 60 feet wide and estimated its depth at less than 10 feet using shadow analysis. The Narrow-Angle Camera, capable of resolving features as small as 3 feet, revealed bright and dark rays extending from the impact site. Dark streaks consisted of surface material weathered by solar wind and micrometeorite impacts, while brighter streaks indicated fresh material excavated from deeper underground. The collision ejected material from 1.5 feet beneath the lunar surface.

Locating the impact site involved global collaboration among astronomers and space agencies. Independent experts first tracked the rocket’s trajectory using public data, and NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies refined the prediction to within 0.6 miles. The center shared the coordinates with South Korea’s Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (Danuri) team, which imaged the crater using its LUTI camera. Danuri’s data helped NASA’s LRO team further refine the crater’s location to 19.4759°N, 266.7138°E, at an elevation of 511 meters.

This event provided NASA with an opportunity to validate impact prediction tools used for planetary defense. The successful coordination between international missions demonstrated the value of shared data and high-resolution imaging in tracking lunar events. The LRO team plans to continue monitoring the site to study long-term changes caused by the impact.