The Moon Has New Craters!
© infinitalavita/stock.adobe.com
Some of the Moon’s craters are billions of years old. Others are new.
The Moon’s most famous characteristic may just be the many craters, or pits, in its surface. Many of the Moon’s craters are billions of years old! But scientists recently noted a couple of fresh new ones.
One Huge Crater
© Corbis—Corbis Historical/Getty Images
These craters were photographed in 1969, while the Apollo 11 spacecraft orbited the Moon.
The Moon’s craters are scars from when objects hit its surface. There are many new craters each year, but giant ones are fairly rare. So when scientists, with the help of a telescope, noticed a massive new crater, likely formed in 2024, they took note. What makes the crater unusual is that it’s about 740 feet (225 meters) wide—the size of two U.S. football fields put together. That means the rock that made the crater must have been huge. On average, craters this large are created only once every 139 years.
One Unexpected Crater
NASA Goddard/Intuitive Machines
This animation shows the Moon before and after the Space X Falcon 9 rocket hit its surface in 2026.
Most objects that make craters are natural, like asteroids. But not always. On August 5, 2026, a Space X Falcon 9 rocket created a new crater when it slammed into the Moon at a speed of about 5,400 miles per hour (8,690 kilometers per hour). Some reports say the crater is 60 feet (18 meters) wide.
The rocket wasn’t meant to hit the Moon. Launched in January 2025, it was supposed to float in a loose orbit after it carried two pieces of equipment into space. But gravity and solar activity affected the rocket, sending it on an unexpected path—right into the Moon’s surface.
