NASA spacecraft discovers a huge new crater on the moon
Researchers say the impact created a 7-kilometer cold spot and churned lunar soil for more than 100 kilometers, offering a rare natural experiment.
- NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter team identified a newly formed 222-meter-wide lunar crater named McGetchin on the Moon's near side, which formed between April 11 and May 22, 2024.
- A comet or asteroid roughly the size of a three- to six-story building struck the lunar surface, releasing approximately 65 billion kilojoules of energy in an impact estimated to occur only once every 132 years.
- Follow-Up thermal data from the Diviner Lunar Radiometer Experiment revealed a 4-mile-wide cold spot around the crater measuring around 16 degrees Fahrenheit cooler at night, indicating the impact loosened surface material and reduced heat retention.
- NASA engineers are calculating the risk of ejected material striking the agency's planned moon base, using these impact measurements to design structures capable of withstanding high-velocity debris.
- The findings, published in Science Advances on Wednesday, offer a rare opportunity to study a recent, large-scale impact as NASA prepares for sustained human presence on the Moon and expanded commercial activities.
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Lunar orbiter spots ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ new crater on the moon
By Deblina Chakraborty, CNN (CNN) — The moon’s surface experienced a violent encounter with a comet or an asteroid — and has a massive battle scar to prove it.The space rock, estimated to be the size of building reaching between three and six stories, slammed into the moon’s eastern edge two years ago, between April
The white spot shows material released by the collision. NASA Goddard/Intuitive Machines/Robert Wagner Nasa, the American space agency, identified a new crater on the Moon formed by a rare impact, of a type that according to scientists occurs approximately once a century or even less often. McGetchin's baptized structure is about 220 metres wide and 43 metres deep. It emerged after an asteroid or comet reached the lunar surface.
Scientists Release Details About Moon's New Massive Crater
It's easy to think of the Moon as the static constant companion in the night sky. Its face hasn’t visibly changed in millennia, and always faces us with the same side. But looks can be deceiving, as our closest companion is constantly bombarded by asteroids and comets that make small craters across the lunar landscape. While they might not be large enough for us to see with our naked eye, professional Moon watchers can pick up on them. And a rec…
The largest new crater in recent years, measuring 222 meters in diameter, formed on the Moon's surface in 2024, according to a new study.
A denser layer of material may be hidden beneath a huge crater on the Martian moon, which could help solve the billion-year-old mystery of Phobos' origins.
It is 222 meters wide and originated when no one looked at it: scientists call the impact a century event. What it can reveal about the solar system.
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