{
  "id": 1783697,
  "title": "NASA’s LRO Images Falcon 9 Crater on Moon, Learns New Details",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/18/nasas-lro-images-falcon-9-crater-on-moon-learns-new-details-1783697",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-08-18T18:49:50.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "NASA",
    "slug": "nasa",
    "url": "https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/moon/nasas-lro-images-falcon-9-crater-on-moon-learns-new-details/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "On August 5, 2026, a SpaceX Falcon 9 upper stage struck the Moon's surface, creating a new crater that was later imaged by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO). Between August 11 and 12, the LRO captured a series of images from different angles as it passed overhead at a speed of 1 mile per second. The images, enlarged three times, reveal a 60-foot-wide crater with a depth of less than 10 feet, determined from the length of its shadow. The darker area surrounding the crater in the upper-left image is composed of weathered surface material altered by solar wind, galactic cosmic rays, and micrometeorite impacts. The brighter streaks above the crater in the lower-right image are fresher material excavated from deeper beneath the surface.",
  "summary": "Between Aug. 11 and 12, NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) captured a series of images of a new crater on the Moon. The crater formed on Aug. 5, when a SpaceX Falcon 9 upper stage impacted the surface following its January 2025 launch of the Firefly Blue Ghost 1 mission. To capture imagery of the […]",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "NASA Science",
        "title": "NASA’s LRO Images Falcon 9 Crater on Moon, Learns New Details",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/18/nasas-lro-images-falcon-9-crater-on-moon-learns-new-details",
        "published": "2026-08-18T18:49:50.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}