NASA Discovers a Giant Crater on the Moon

Topic: Space

A NASA scientist found a huge crater on the Moon's surface using data from a lunar orbiter. The crater is 728 feet wide and was formed by an asteroid or comet that hit the Moon between April 11 and May 22, 2024.

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has been circling the Moon since 2009.

One of its scientists, Robert Wagner, was examining a map of the Moon when he noticed something unusual. He saw a bright patch surrounded by a dark halo, which suggested that material on the lunar surface had recently been disturbed. Wagner is an image-processing specialist who works with data from the LRO's camera system.

When he compared older and newer images of the same region, he realized the feature was a newly formed impact crater. The crater was officially named McGetchin in honor of pioneering lunar scientist Tom McGetchin. It formed near the Moon's eastern edge sometime between April 11 and May 22, 2024.

The impact carved out a crater 728 feet wide, roughly the length of two football fields. At 141 feet deep, it would be large enough to hold three yellow school buses stacked vertically.

Why It Matters

This discovery is important because it shows how useful NASA's long-running lunar observations are for tracking changes on the Moon as the agency works toward a sustained human presence and greater scientific and commercial activity there.

Key Facts

• The crater, named McGetchin, was formed by an asteroid or comet that hit the Moon between April 11 and May 22, 2024.
• It is the largest newly formed crater ever identified in the solar system.
• NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has been circling the Moon since 2009.
• The LRO has identified at least 1,000 new impact craters on the Moon.
• Impacts of this size create about 140 new craters across the Moon each year.

Key Terms

Impact Crater

A depression in a planet's or moon's surface caused by an object hitting it.

Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO)

A NASA spacecraft that orbits the Moon to study its surface and environment.

Implications

This discovery is important because it shows how useful NASA's long-running lunar observations are for tracking changes on the Moon as the agency works toward a sustained human presence and greater scientific and commercial activity there.