Between August 11 and 12, 2025, NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) acquired a series of images of a previously unseen crater on the lunar surface. The pictures reveal a fresh impact feature that stands out against the surrounding regolith.
According to the LRO team, the crater formed on August 5, 2025, when the upper stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket struck the Moon. This stage had launched as part of the Firefly Blue Ghost 1 mission in January 2025.
The new imagery allows scientists to begin analysing the impact characteristics, such as crater shape and ejecta distribution. While precise dimensions have not yet been released, the data provide valuable clues about the impact energy and the behaviour of lunar material under high‑speed collisions.
The event highlights the growing relevance of space debris for lunar science and demonstrates how existing observatories like the LRO can capture unexpected phenomena, contributing to our understanding of impact processes on airless bodies.