NASA believes the crater left by the rocket is around 60 feet wide. Sven Piper/Getty Images In case you missed it, it emerged earlier this week that a Space X Falcon 9 rocket was either about to, or had already, unintentionally crashed into the moon. While the collision wasn't thought to be particularly large, the four-ton rocket reportedly slammed into the moon's surface at a speed of 5,400mph, and now the Korea Aero Space Administration (KASA) has shared what it claims are the first before and after images.

The Republic of Korea's lunar orbiter Danuri managed to capture what a lot of the world's astronomers will have missed, with the second image clearly showing the crater left by the Falcon 9's upper stage after it hit in the early hours of August 5. NASA estimated that the crater would be around 60 feet wide and 12 feet deep, and said that while meteoroids hitting the moon is a daily occurrence, collisions with human-made objects are far more rare.

The Falcon 9 has been in orbit since January 2025, and carried two lunar landers to orbit on the Blue Ghost mission. The reusable booster (first stage) successfully returned to earth last year, but the rocket remained in space to ensure the landers reached their intended destination. "For most of our missions, we plan a controlled deorbit of the Falcon second stage so it safely reenters over the ocean," Elon Musk's Space X wrote in a post on X after the crash.

The impact poses no danger to Earth, but increasing space debris is a concern. NASA said disturbances to the moon can give scientists "valuable insight" into ejecta plumes and lunar geology.