{"id":441371,"date":"2026-09-19T20:52:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-19T20:52:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/441371\/"},"modified":"2026-09-19T20:52:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-19T20:52:09","slug":"nasa-spacecraft-discovers-a-huge-new-crater-on-the-moon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/441371\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA spacecraft discovers a huge new crater on the moon"},"content":{"rendered":"

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida — Scientists have discovered a crater on the moon<\/a> that\u2019s bigger than the Roman Colosseum and is the result of a powerful impact two years ago that initially went undetected.<\/p>\n

The steep-sided hole \u2014 about 728 feet (222 meters) across and up to 141 feet (43 meters) deep \u2014 is the solar system\u2019s biggest known impact crater carved out in recent times.<\/p>\n

Such a large-scale event is estimated to occur only once every 132 years, researchers said, making this a treasure trove of information as NASA prepares to build a base for astronauts<\/a> on the moon.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis event constitutes a statistically rare, effectively once-in-a-lifetime observation,\u201d the scientists wrote in one of two studies appearing on the subject Wednesday in the journal Science Advances.<\/p>\n

NASA\u2019s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter<\/a> spotted the crater on the moon\u2019s near side in May 2024 soon after it was formed by an incoming fragment of an asteroid or comet. The moon strike escaped real-time detection by telescopes on Earth and in space.<\/p>\n

LRO\u2019s wide-angle images were not identified in the crush of data until August 2025. The spacecraft gathered more detailed pictures last fall, followed by confirmation of the discovery early this year.<\/p>\n

The crater \u2014 named for the late Thomas McGetchin, a former director of Houston\u2019s Lunar and Planetary Institute \u2014 is three times bigger than the previous record-holder found by the LRO a decade ago. Pockmarked since ancient times, the moon bears some of the solar system\u2019s largest impact craters, including one that stretches more than 1,500 miles (2,400 kilometers) across.<\/p>\n

This latest impact churned the lunar surface for more than 66 miles (100 kilometers). Dust and rocky soil were hurled away at a higher angle than expected, according to Mark Robinson, chief scientist for the LRO\u2019s cameras who works at Intuitive Machines. Robinson was the lead author for one of the studies.<\/p>\n

A separate study identified a 4-mile-wide (7-kilometer-wide) cold spot around the new crater, consistent with a loosening of the moon\u2019s top soil. Co-author David Paige of the University of California, Los Angeles, likens it to gardening.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re now thinking of impacts as a way to garden the regolith \u2014 churning the sediments and putting stuff above that\u2019s usually below the surface,\u201d Paige said in a statement.<\/p>\n

The LRO\u2019s numerous crater discoveries since its launch in 2009 show that the moon\u2019s top inch (2 centimeters) of soil is being overturned by ejected material every 80,000 years, faster than previously thought, according to Robinson.<\/p>\n

Contrary to the popular belief that the Apollo moonwalkers\u2019 dusty lunar footprints will last forever, they will \u201cdefinitely be long gone in that time frame,\u201d Robinson said in an email.<\/p>\n

The next step is to calculate the risk of ejected crater material striking NASA\u2019s planned moon base, he added. \u201cThat information will help engineers harden structures so one won\u2019t have to worry about damage, or maybe worry less.\u201d<\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2026 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida — Scientists have discovered a crater on the moon that\u2019s bigger than the Roman Colosseum…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":441372,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[152763,56,58,57],"class_list":["post-441371","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-152763","tag-houston","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/441371","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=441371"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/441371\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/441372"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=441371"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=441371"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=441371"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}