dpCAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A South Korean satellite has captured the first pictures of the moon’s fresh crash scene caused by a stray SpaceX rocket.
The Korea Aerospace Research Institute’s Danuri spacecraft flew over the impact site soon after the Falcon 9 upper stage inadvertently plowed into the moon on Wednesday. Danuri made multiple passes, snapping photos from lunar orbit that were released by the space agency Thursday.
This combination of images provided by NASA and the Korea Aerospace Research Institute shows an area of the moon’s surface before, left, Oct. 1, 2015, and after, right, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026, a SpaceX rocket segment collided with the moon. (NASA, Korea Aerospace Research Institute via AP)
The terrain is noticeably darker where the rocket hit and carved out a crater, sending dust and rock everywhere. Korean space officials said Danuri gathered before and after shots.
NASA expects its Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter to fly over the crash site next week to view the aftermath.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX launched Danuri from Cape Canaveral in 2022.
The company also sent a pair of private lunar landers to the moon last year. The upper stage from that launch is what crashed into the moon this week at 5,400 mph (8,700 kph), placed on an accidental collision course by solar activity and gravity, according to SpaceX.
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