NASA has captured its clearest look yet at the aftermath of a SpaceX rocket stage crashing into the moon, revealing a fresh crater and streaks of material blasted across the lunar surface.
The discarded upper stage of a Falcon 9 rocket struck the moon on Aug. 5 after spending more than a year in space. Six days later, NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, began photographing the impact site from about 60 miles above the lunar surface.
The new images show a crater measuring about 60 feet across and less than 10 feet deep, according to NASA. Bright and dark rays extend outward from the crater, offering scientists clues about what was churned up by the high-speed collision.
The darker streaks consist of dust and rocks near the surface that have been weathered over time by the solar wind, cosmic rays and countless tiny impacts. NASA said the collision excavated some of this material from about 1.5 feet beneath the surface.
This is an animated before-and-after view of the crater formed after a Falcon 9 upper stage struck the moon's surface on August 5. These images were taken between Aug. 11 and 12 by the Narrow-Angle Camera on NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. Photo courtesy NASA Goddard/Intuitive Machines
