{"id":10138,"date":"2026-08-18T21:37:03","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T21:37:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=10138"},"modified":"2026-08-18T21:37:03","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T21:37:03","slug":"new-images-reveal-the-impact-site-of-spacex-rockets-moon-collision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=10138","title":{"rendered":"New images reveal the impact site of SpaceX rocket\u2019s moon collision"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n New images from a NASA satellite orbiting the moon reveal a fresh, 60-foot-wide crater formed by a wayward SpaceX rocket that slammed into the lunar surface earlier this month.\n <\/p>

Read more Trump halts talks with Iran, signaling a new approach in the nearly 6-month war<\/a><\/p>\n

\n The crash involved the upper stage of a Falcon 9 rocket that originally launched on January 15, 2025, carrying two commercial lunar landers. While the rocket\u2019s first stage \u2014 the booster used for liftoff \u2014 returned to Earth, its second, or upper, stage continued propelling the robotic landers on their path to the moon.\n <\/p>\n

\n After the rocket\u2019s mission was complete, SpaceX intentionally discarded the upper stage in space \u2014 but it later became clear that quirks of orbital dynamics had pushed the booster onto a collision course with the moon.\n <\/p>\n

\n Researchers and space agencies scrambled to capture imagery of the vehicle\u2019s landing site after it hit the moon on August 5. The European Southern Observatory\u2019s Very Large Telescope, located at the Paranal Observatory in Chile, was among the first to detect the impact. And the Korean Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter, called Danuri, shared images on social media shortly after the collision.\n <\/p>\n

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\"Danuri's<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n<\/div>\n
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\nDanuri’s cameras captured images from before and after the impact.<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
From KASA<\/figcaption>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n NASA said it worked alongside the Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA) and used the preliminary data that Danuri gathered to guide a narrow-angle camera on board NASA\u2019s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, and capture clearer images, which NASA released Tuesday.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cTo capture imagery of the impact, engineers tilted the spacecraft so its cameras would point toward the crater each time LRO passed about 60 miles above the Moon, traveling 1 mile per second,\u201d the sapce agency said in a news release Tuesday. \u201cThe orbiter circles the Moon from pole to pole every two hours, while the Moon slowly rotates underneath it.\u201d\n <\/p>

Read more Justice Department charges eight Iranians for allegedly hacking US government and colleges<\/a><\/p>\n

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\"After<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n<\/div>\n
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\nAfter view of the crater formed after a Falcon 9 upper stage struck the moon\u2019s surface on August 5. These images were taken between August 11 and 12 by the Narrow-Angle Camera on NASA\u2019s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
NASA Goddard\/Intuitive Machines<\/figcaption>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n It took six days for the LRO\u2019s orbital path to line up with the impact site, NASA noted, and additional time to process the imagery. Imaging the impact site required extreme precision, the space agency said, as even a 10-second delay in snapping a picture could cause the newly created crater to drift as much as 10 miles out of frame.\n <\/p>\n

\n Though the rocket collision was unplanned, NASA researchers said the event did not pose a threat to anyone on Earth or to the lunar surface.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cThis is not something we\u2019re really concerned about. This is actually a technically accepted and safe method of disposing of hardware in low lunar orbit,\u201d NASA lunar scientist Kelsey Young said in a video posted to social media. \u201cThe moon is always being hit by things: meteors, asteroids, comets.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n In fact, Young said, scientists are using observations of the collision to learn more about the moon\u2019s surface, and to \u201cprepare for how to shield astronauts and any future infrastructure sent there.\u201d\n <\/p>

Read more Gov. Josh Shapiro announces new limits on data centers in Pennsylvania<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The imagery captured by a NASA satellite reveals the clearest picture yet of a fresh 60-foot-wide crater on the lunar surface.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10133,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science","category-space"],"yoast_head":"\nNew images reveal the impact site of SpaceX rocket\u2019s moon collision - Relocation Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=10138\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"New images reveal the impact site of SpaceX rocket\u2019s moon collision - 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