{"id":2646760,"date":"2026-08-19T05:50:59","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T09:50:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/before-and-after-nasa-images-show-crater-carved-by-a-spacex-rocket-that-slammed-into-the-moon\/"},"modified":"2026-08-19T05:54:25","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T09:54:25","slug":"before-and-after-nasa-images-show-crater-carved-by-a-spacex-rocket-that-slammed-into-the-moon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/before-and-after-nasa-images-show-crater-carved-by-a-spacex-rocket-that-slammed-into-the-moon\/","title":{"rendered":"Before-and-after NASA images show crater carved by a SpaceX rocket that slammed into the moon"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fbefore-and-after-nasa-images-show-crater-carved-by-a-spacex-rocket-that-slammed-into-the-moon%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2646760&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A NASA spacecraft orbiting the moon captured the clearest images yet of a crater created by the impact of a SpaceX rocket. The impact occurred on August 5th when the Falcon rocket&#8217;s upper stage crashed into the moon at 5,400 mph after drifting in space for over a year; this event was part of NASA&#8217;s efforts to commercialize lunar exploration, including launching lunar landers adn experimental equipment. The newly released photos reveal that the crater is approximately 18 meters across and less then 3 meters deep, showing distinct dark and bright streaks-representing excavated surface material and fresh rocks-emanating from the impact site. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter captured these images a week after the collision from 96 kilometers above, completing a lunar orbit every two hours. South Korea\u2019s Danuri spacecraft was the first to transmit photos of the impact. NASA continues its mission to study and explore the lunar surface in preparation for future human missions.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<article class=\"fn-body\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) \u2014 A NASA spacecraft circling the moon is providing the sharpest views yet of the crater carved by <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ap.org\/news-highlights\/spotlights\/2026\/scientists-are-certain-a-wayward-spacex-rocket-slammed-into-the-moon-as-predicted\/\">a crashing SpaceX rocket<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The space agency released before-and-after photos of the impact area on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<section class=\"explore-more-section\" id=\"wex-recommended-widget\">\n<div class=\"magazine-container single\">\n<h1 class=\"magazine-title mt-2\">Recommended Stories<\/h1>\n<p>             <i class=\"fa-solid fa-play icon\"><\/i>         <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-grid\">\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/4691080\/national-park-service-dc-guard-armory-transfer-dc-government-national-planning-commission\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>National Park Service moves to transfer control of National Guard hub to DC<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/4690764\/doj-investigating-college-of-william-and-mary-violations-civil-rights-act\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>DOJ investigating College of William and Mary for possible violations of Civil Rights Act<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/4690297\/joe-concha-democrats-hasan-piker\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Joe Concha: Democrats will pay for embracing \u2018radical\u2019 Hasan Piker<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Falcon rocket\u2019s upper stage plowed into the moon at 5,400 mph (8,700 kph) on Aug. 5 after drifting through space for more than a year. <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/moon-landings-nasa-japan-spacex-8b6e29d17c463e8760c9baa2a75db54a\">It launched a pair of private moon landers<\/a> with experiments and even a tiny rover in 2025 as part of NASA\u2019s push to commercialize lunar exploration.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-1\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-1\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-15\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-1\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Based on these new photos by NASA\u2019s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, the fresh crater appears to be 60 feet (18 meters) across and less than 10 feet (3 meters) deep, according to scientists.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dark and bright streaks are clearly visible emanating like butterfly wings from the crater. The <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >darker lines represent excavated material<\/a> that was close to the surface and shaped by eons of solar wind, cosmic rays and micrometeorite strikes. The brighter rays indicate fresh rocks and dirt that were hurled from farther down.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The spacecraft photographed the crater a week after the collision from 60 miles (96 kilometers) up, while zooming along at one mile per second. Flight controllers had to tilt the spacecraft so its cameras pointed toward the impact scene.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-2\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-2\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-16\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-2\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The orbiter completes a lunar polar orbit every two hours, as the moon rotates beneath. It took six days before the crash scene came into view.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/spacex-rocket-moon-crash-61dc5c43f671623622960013e06aeeb1\">South Korea\u2019s Danuri spacecraft<\/a> was first on the scene to beam back photos.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has been orbiting the moon since 2009, serving as NASA\u2019s up-close eyes as the space agency works to return astronauts to the lunar surface.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-3\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-3\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-17\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-3\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NASA orbiter captures detailed crater from SpaceX rocket crash<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2634,"featured_media":2646762,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/moon-photos-e1787129484380.webp?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651,538],"tags":[84357,84358,4844],"class_list":["post-2646760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","category-washington-examiner","tag-moon-crater","tag-nasa-images","tag-spacex"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/moon-photos-e1787129484380.webp?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2646760","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2634"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2646760"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2646760\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2646764,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2646760\/revisions\/2646764"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2646762"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2646760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2646760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2646760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}