Our Moon Has A New Crater!
Language
Reading Level
Listen to Article
Alignment
Our Moon just got a massive new crater! However, unlike most lunar craters, this one was not caused by an asteroid or meteorite slamming into its surface. Instead, it was created when an 8,800-pound (3,991 kg) piece of space junk crashed into the Moon at 5,400 mph (8,690 kph) on August 5, 2026.
It all began in January 2025, when a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched two lunar landers into space. After the landers separated from the rocket, its upper stage was left in space. Instead of falling back to Earth, it continued traveling in an orbit that carried it far from our planet.
For the next year and a half, the gravity of Earth, the Moon, and the Sun, along with solar activity, gradually changed the rocket stage’s orbit. Over time, these changes sent it toward the Moon.
Because the Moon has no atmosphere, the rocket stage did not burn up as it approached the surface. On August 5, it crashed between the Moon’s Einstein and Bell craters. This side of the Moon was facing the Sun at the time of the collision. Hence, the initial flare from the crash was not visible from Earth. However, the Very Large Telescope in Chile detected two different elements in the cloud of debris created by the collision. There was lithium from the rocket and sodium from the lunar surface.
A few days later, South Korea’s Danuri spacecraft photographed the crash site. A comparison of the new images with pictures taken before the impact showed a fresh crater. However, the image was not clear enough to determine its exact size.
Between August 11 and 12, NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) captured a closer image of the impact area. It showed a 60-foot-wide (18-meter) crater surrounded by streaks of lunar rock thrown up by the rocket’s impact.
This unexpected crash gave researchers a chance to study how human-made objects affect the Moon. As NASA and other space agencies prepare for more lunar missions, understanding these effects is very important. This knowledge will help scientists assess the risks that space debris poses to future astronauts, spacecraft, and equipment.
Resources: Space.com, ZMEscience.com, Quartz.com
Get the Workbook for this article!
Workbook contains: Article, Reading Comprehension, Critical Thinking Questions, Vocabulary in Context (+ answers), Multiple Choice Quiz (+ answers), Parts of Speech Quiz (+ answers), Vocabulary Game (+ answers)Cite Article
Learn Keywords in this Article
31 Comments
- smartreader9 daysThis is terrible if more crashes like this the moon can look completely different and that'd be bad.
pykopavociwi7 daysagreed
oniguri9 daysitz so cool
mjdjdance9 daysIm so glad it didn't crash into earth..:0
kejjeje4899 daysWow
thejackguy10 daysI’m no space expert but I’m scared of the thought that the rocket would crash into earth instead of the moon :( cool tho
gorycapizuzi10 daysOmg, just imagine seeing a rocket crash into the moon
aarush_dhimal10 daysNew crater to get used to
ilovehenrydsaf110 dayswow
sad_sad_soul10 daysThat is amazing that a new crater has formed!
