SpaceX Falcon 9 Stage Leaves 60-Foot Crater on the Moon
NASA images show the impact site of a spent SpaceX Falcon 9 upper stage on the lunar surface.
The lunar surface has been left with a 60-foot crater following the impact of a spent SpaceX Falcon 9 upper stage. Images captured by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) show the extent of the damage.
The crater is estimated to be 60 feet across and less than 10 feet deep. NASA engineers used the LRO's Narrow-Angle Camera to capture the images, which were taken between August 11 and 12, 2026, six days after the stage struck the surface on August 5, 2026.
| Feature | Value | | --- | --- | | Width | 60 feet | | Depth | less than 10 feet |
The agency's engineers tilted the spacecraft to ensure the camera pointed directly at the site on each pass, with the spacecraft flying about 60 miles above the surface at a ground speed of one mile per second.
## Measuring the Crater
NASA measured the width of the crater from frames in which the crater rim stood clear of the surrounding terrain. The depth was derived from the length of the shadow it cast. The camera's resolution is capable of detecting features as small as three feet.
The measurement is a partial check on NASA's own pre-impact work, which predicted the stage would excavate a crater about 60 feet wide and 12 feet deep. However, the actual crater is shallower than expected.
## Independent Tracking and Imaging
The search for the site drew on independent trackers. NASA said independent astronomers first worked out the stage's trajectory from publicly available data, after which its Center for Near Earth Object Studies at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory refined the solution and passed a predicted impact point to the team operating South Korea's Danuri orbiter.
Danuri imaged the crater hours later with its LUTI camera, showing the prediction had been accurate to about 0.6 miles. The Korean team returned coordinates to the LRO team, which used them to target the follow-up sequence.
## The Unplanned Return
The stage launched Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost 1 lander on January 15, 2025, under NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative. NASA attributed the unplanned return to solar activity and gravitational forces.
Deliberate disposal of upper stages on the lunar surface is an accepted practice, the agency said, and is sometimes the only workable option for missions in low lunar orbit.
