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NASA’s LRO Images New Moon Crater from Falcon 9 Impact
Confirmed
In Short: NASA's LRO captured detailed images of a new crater on the Moon, formed by a Falcon 9 impact, using multiple viewing angles and lighting conditions.
NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) recently captured images of a new crater on the Moon, formed by a Falcon 9 impact. These images, taken from various angles, provided scientists with unique insights into the crater’s structure. The images, captured between August 11 and 12, show the crater under different lighting conditions, enhancing the details visible.
Additional images were taken by the Danuri spacecraft, confirming the accuracy of the coordinates provided by the Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS), which were within about 1 km of the actual impact site.
What's confirmed
What's still developing
- Between Aug. 11 and 12, NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) captured a series of images of a new crater on the Moon.
- Because of the variety of viewing angles, scientists could see the crater under multiple lighting conditions that revealed unique features.
- These four images were each captured from a different angle, and the sunlight angle is different, too.
- A few hours later, Danuri captured images of the impact site, showing that the CNEOS' coordinates were accurate to within about 1 km.
- They then gave the coordinates to the LRO, which captured its images.