A fresh scar on the Moon has come into view, and it was left by a wayward SpaceX rocket stage—now photographed for the first time by a South Korean lunar orbiter.
The Korea Aerospace Research Institute’s Danuri spacecraft swept over the impact zone shortly after a Falcon 9 upper stage inadvertently slammed into the lunar surface on Wednesday.
Over multiple flyovers, Danuri recorded images from orbit, and the agency released the photographs yesterday.
The pictures show a conspicuously darker patch of ground at the strike point, where the rocket carved out a crater and blasted dust and rock across the surrounding terrain.
(Image: NASA via KARI/KASA)
Korean space officials said the probe captured comparative views from before and after the collision.
Nasa expects its Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter to pass over the site next week to assess the aftermath.
SpaceX, led by Elon Musk, launched Danuri from Cape Canaveral in 2022.
The company also dispatched a pair of private lunar landers to the Moon last year.
According to SpaceX, the upper stage from that mission is the hardware that struck the Moon this week at 8,700km/h, after solar activity and gravity pushed it onto an unintended collision path.
