NASA Photos Show Moon Crater Made By SpaceX Rocket

Forbes Published Aug 18, 2026 Reviewed Aug 19, 2026 ✓ Reviewed by citations.press editors

The crater created by SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket measured 60 feet wide and less than 10 feet deep, according to NASA’s analysis of the crater’s shadow.

60 feet · craterless than 10 feet · crater NASA, analysis

The orbiter’s narrow-angle camera can spot features as small as three feet wide.

3 feet · orbiter’s narrow-angle camera NASA, capability

The Falcon 9 rocket is believed to have crashed into the moon at over 5,000 mph, marking one of many rocket and debris collisions on the moon since the 1960s.

more than 5000 mph · Falcon 9 rocket NASA, analysis

In 2009, a NASA probe deliberately crashed into the moon and struck water—at least 25 gallons of it—in the southern polar region.

at least 25 gallons · NASA probe NASA, mission

NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter captured the photos from 60 miles above the moon, waiting six days for the moon to rotate and show the collision site.

60 miles · Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter6 days · Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter NASA, observation

NASA published before-and-after photos Tuesday of a part of the moon hit by an unmanned SpaceX rocket this month, showing a wide but relatively shallow crater was created by the collision.

NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter captured the photos last week from 60 miles above the moon, waiting six days for the moon to rotate and show the collision site.

The crater created by SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket measured 60 feet wide and less than 10 feet deep, according to NASA’s analysis of the crater’s shadow.

The orbiter’s narrow-angle camera can spot features as small as three feet wide.

The images also showed streaks of surface dust and rocks created by the collision.

The Falcon 9 rocket was launched in early 2025 on a one-way mission to carry lunar landers into deep space. The rocket did not have the fuel needed to navigate itself back to Earth so it could burn up in the atmosphere. Instead, it drifted for several months before it was pulled by gravity into the moon.

The rocket is believed to have crashed into the moon at over 5,000 mph, marking one of many rocket and debris collisions on the moon since the 1960s. Recent crashes have involved Russia’s Luna-25 mission in 2023 and a spent Chinese rocket body in 2022. Intentional crashes have also been conducted. In 2009, a NASA probe deliberately crashed into the moon and struck water—at least 25 gallons of it—in the southern polar region.

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