One lucky orbiter caught the SpaceX rocket crash site on moon

A South Korean lunar orbiter, named Danuri, managed to capture footage of a SpaceX rocket crashing into the moon on August 5th. The South Korean space agency, KARI, reported that the Danuri spacecraft began monitoring the area approximately 30 minutes prior to the accident. The Danuri orbiter carried out eight photoshoots of the impact site.

According to KARI, the observations allowed scientists to analyze changes in the lunar terrain and traces of debris ejected from the high-velocity collision. These observations will be merged with data from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter to facilitate international research on the effect of such impacts on the moon's surface.

The roughly 4-ton Falcon 9 upper stage was accidentally propelled towards the lunar surface due to a mix of solar radiation pressure and gravitational forces over time. SpaceX committed to responsible space debris disposal practices, expressing regret over the rare but possible occurrence of such incidents involving objects in these orbits.

Astronomers utilized the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope in Chile to identify a plume of material that likely originated from the crash. Independent space trackers also confirmed that the rocket hit the predicted impact zone near Einstein Crater, situated near the boundary between the moon's near and far sides.