A Massive New Crater Just Appeared on the Moon

Summary

• A human-made lunar impact: On August 5, 2026, a roughly 3,900 kg Falcon 9 upper stage struck the Moon near Einstein crater at over 8,500 km/h. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter later confirmed the impact. Ground-based observations detected a brief plume containing sodium from lunar soil and lithium from the rocket. Because the collision and its likely location had been predicted, it offered a rare test of impact-prediction methods.

• A recently formed, unexpectedly overlooked crater: Researchers found a new crater while automated software compared wide-angle lunar images. Follow-up high-resolution images indicated that a space rock struck the Moon in spring 2024, producing a crater about 222 m wide and 43 m deep. The crater, named McGetchin after planetary scientist Thomas McGetchin, is described as the youngest such structure observed. Its estimated impact energy was about 7 × 10¹⁰ kJ; impacts of this scale are estimated to occur on the Moon about once every 132 years.

• Local geology shaped the crater: The crater formed where the Imbrium basaltic plain meets older highland terrain. Its uneven rim suggests that differences in the underlying materials—loose highland soil on one side and solid lava flows on the other—affected the crater’s shape.

• A broad cold spot and surface disturbance: Thermal data revealed an area about 7 km across that is 8–9°C colder than nearby terrain at lunar midnight. The proposed explanation is that the impact’s blast and ejecta loosened and decompacted the regolith. This material has lower thermal inertia and loses heat more quickly during the long lunar night. Optical images also showed unusual reflectance patterns extending more than 100 km from the crater, suggesting impacts can alter surface material far beyond the crater itself.

• Lunar soil may change faster than previously thought: The video describes a catalog of 222 new impact craters and research revising the timescale for “regolith gardening”—the mixing and churning of lunar soil by impacts. Instead of taking about 10 million years to rework the upper 2 cm of soil, the process may take roughly 80,000 years—about 100 times faster. If so, Apollo footprints and other surface traces may be erased on timescales of thousands of years rather than millions.

• Implications for lunar missions and settlements: Ejecta, shock waves, and secondary dust impacts could affect sites tens of kilometres from an impact. Future habitats may need stronger protection, and solar panels may need shielding against high-speed dust. The findings could therefore affect engineering plans for the Artemis program and any future lunar outposts.

• The South Pole–Aitken Basin: The video also discusses the Moon’s far-side basin, which is about 2,000 km across and contains a large mass anomaly detected through gravity measurements. One hypothesis is that it includes dense iron-nickel material from an ancient impactor, possibly a protoplanet, that struck the Moon around 4.2 billion years ago. Chang’e 6 samples from the region are presented as evidence that the impact excavated deep lunar material. The basin may also contain useful minerals and water ice in permanently shadowed craters, though the video presents mining or settlement there as a future possibility.

Overall, the discoveries portray the Moon as a surface still being reshaped by impacts, rather than a completely static ancient body.

Methods and Observations

• Automated software compared wide-angle lunar images and flagged a possible surface change.
• Researchers examined follow-up high-resolution images to identify and measure the crater.
• Diviner thermal data were used to map the cold area around the impact site.
• Optical images were analyzed for unusual reflectance patterns beyond the crater.
• The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter confirmed the Falcon 9 upper-stage impact.
• The Very Large Telescope observed the resulting plume spectroscopically.
• Gravity measurements and samples returned by Chang’e 6 were discussed in connection with the South Pole–Aitken Basin.

Researchers and Sources Featured

• Thomas McGetchin — Planetary scientist after whom the crater is named.
• Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) — Lunar imaging and impact confirmation.
• Diviner Thermal Radiometer — Thermal observations of the lunar surface.
• Very Large Telescope (VLT), Chile — Ground-based plume observations.
• Chang’e 6 sample-return mission — Samples from the Moon’s far side.
• Apollo 17 — Mentioned in connection with McGetchin’s work selecting landing sites.

The video refers to recent studies and a crater catalog but does not name their authors.